A Warrior's Heart
by HoldTheLineDon'tLookBack
Summary: Gail is an elven warrior. After Princess Holly is attacked her father decides she needs to be guarded at all times. When Gail is assigned as one of those guards can she keep her feelings for the princess in check? Can Holly keep hers in check? How far will Gail go to protect Holly? Rated T because I'm paranoid and I don't know how violent this will get.
1. Let the Games Begin

**A/N: I'M BACK!**

 **So I know that I was gone for a long time. Three years to be exact. In that time I have learned a lot about myself. This is already written on my profile, but I was 15 when I started posting stories on here. Now I'm 20 and when I was reading over the stories I had written I hated them. So I deleted a lot of my stories leaving just two short stories that I think are decent. I have completely changed my profile: I changed my username, deleted stories, changed what my profile said about me, and went through and cleared out my favorite stories and authors.**

 **I'm a completely different person than I was five years ago when I started this. I hope you can all respect that and I hope you enjoy the new direction that my profile will be taking on.**

Holly stood on the balcony in her room. She was looking out over the Northern area of the lands of Nimrais. Nimrais is the elven city where the king ruled over and protected all of his people. King Brian also happened to be Holly's father which made her the elf princess.

She, like her father, was well loved by her people. After her mother had become ill and died the people had banded together in mourning and in support around the ruling family. In his grief King Brian had allowed himself to slack off on many of his royal duties. Holly had only been 16, but she had stepped up to the best of her ability. She had ruled for about a year while her father grieved. At the end of that time she, with the support of most of the citizens of Nimrais behind her, had negotiated a treaty with the human ruler. That treaty had ended a war that had been going on for over ten years. Not long after that her father had stepped back up. He had been proud of her accomplishment and took every opportunity to tell her that and to thank her for the help she provided him in his absence.

Unfortunately the treaty meant that both sides had to make sacrifices. The woods to the south of the city which used to be a popular elven hang out area, due to the vast number of beautiful clearings and small streams, and hunting area, due to the many different types of wildlife that lived there, became a neutral territory. Some of the elf citizens had found this to be too great of a sacrifice and did not agree with Holly's decision. Since then very few elves had set foot in those woods, whereas the humans had all but taken it over. That alone had not made Holly very popular with the citizens who frequented that area, which was a large number of them, especially the hunters. Those who wished to spend time in the woods hanging out or hunting now had to make the long trek to the woods of the Eastern border. Not only were those woods further away, but they were also much smaller with less wildlife.

This was the reason that she was in the mess that she found herself in.

Over the course of the last six months since the treaty had been put into effect and her father had reclaimed his place Holly had been receiving threatening letters. Those letters had simply been signed "The Hunters." Nobody could figure out if it was the actual hunters or if it was a group calling themselves that. Her father had been furious and ordered the guards to bring in and interrogate every hunter, but that had gotten them nowhere. He suggested that the guards interview every citizen in the city. Thankfully Holly had shown him how crazy and foolish that plan was.

Then just the day before yesterday she had been attacked. She had gone for a walk around the palace's large garden after dinner. In hindsight she shouldn't have been walking around on her own after dark with the threats made against her. However, she hadn't really been thinking about that or anything really. Anyway she had been walking when two men dressed in all black with black masks over their faces jumped in front of her blocking her path. Then two more men came up behind her and stopped her from being able to escape. She was stuck. "This is a warning that The Hunters can get to you at anytime, anywhere. We shall be seeing each other again soon Princess." At that moment an arrow went whizzing past Holly's head grazing her cheek leaving behind a fairly deep cut there. Holly fell to the ground in shock holding her cheek. When she got up and looked around the men were gone.

She got up and ran inside. She made a beeline straight to her father's office. He was sitting at his desk working on some paperwork when she burst into the room with tears streaming down her face. Brian had looked up to ask her to give him a moment when he saw her crying with blood leaking out of her cheek between her fingers. He had jumped up and was in front of her in seconds.

He sent his guards to get a doctor to look at her wound. The doctor cleaned out the wound and put a small bandage over it to keep it clean. Her father had fussed over her all night until she went to bed.

In the morning he told her that he was going to arrange for her to have two personal body guards with her at all times. She tried to argue that she was 18 and did not need the personal guards, but he insisted and there was no way she was going to win this one. Though if she was being honest she didn't really want to win; she had been absolutely terrified the night before and it would make her feel better to be constantly protected. She had tried to get him to let her choose her own guards, but again she lost when he told her that, as per tradition, there would be a competition among all willing elven warriors. The top two warriors would be assigned to guard Holly.

Word was spread throughout the city. Elves both young and old made their way to the palace to enter into the competition. It would be based on points. In every event each competitor would get a score from 1-10. The two warriors with the highest scores would protect Holly.

This was why she stood on her balcony looking over the lands that would one day be hers to rule over and protect. Just over the hills to the northwest she could hear the warriors warming up and making final preparations, checking over their equipment and what not, for what was to come.

A knock on the door brought her back to the palace. It was her father ready to walk with her to the stadium to watch the warriors compete.

"Here we go." Holly mumbled under her breath. She plastered a large fake smile on her face and walked out. She walked just behind her father and on his right side.

They made their way swiftly to the stadium that was just beyond the training grounds. There was a guard on each side of them. The king was taking no chances with his daughter's safety today. They arrived quickly and made their way to the royal balcony.

There were two thrones set up and a table that was covered in various foods and drink for the two. As they stepped into view Holly saw many warriors, both male and female, lined up and standing at attention. Those warriors at once, and in unison, dropped to one knee with their heads bowed when they saw the king and princess.

Brian kept them like that for only a moment before he spoke, "rise." He began. Once they were all on their feet, something they once again did in unison, he continued, "today you compete to see who will get the honor of being my daughter's personal guards." He paused while every warrior touched their closed right fists to their hearts. It was a sign of their commitment to their leaders. It was a quick touch before all hands were back at the warriors' sides. "Let the games begin!" Brian shouted before he and Holly sat down, and the warriors dispersed to begin the first event.

 **A/N 2: So there it is. The first chapter that I have posted in years. I'm pretty proud of it and I have a good idea of what is going to happen, at least at the beginning of this story. If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know either through a review or through a PM.**


	2. Who will win?

**A/N: So I'm back with the second chapter of A warrior's heart. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I got a great response to the first chapter. This chapter kind of got away from me and it's kind of long.**

 **Anyway please read and enjoy.**

Holly and her father took their seats as the warriors lined up along the outside of the arena. There were 150 of them there to compete. There would be six events and in each one the warriors would be competing against themselves and each other. In each event the competitors would get points based on how well they did. Then after every event the competitors at the bottom would be sent home.

The first event was set to be archery. The warriors would be called up in groups of 10, making 15 rounds, meaning 30 competitors would be kicked out of the competition. The groups had been randomly pre-selected. Each of them would be given 10 arrows, they would be lined up facing a target. They would start 10 yards from the target and with each shot they would back up five yards. The warrior with the most bulls-eyes would get 10 points and the warrior with the least would get one point. Then the two competitors from each round with the least points would be sent home.

"I think I'll put my bet on that young man down there." King Brian said pointing to a male around 25 years. He was tall and well-built with the face of one much younger. He stood in the brown leather ¾ pants that the rest wore, and he wore no shirt. He had a serious look on his face with his arms crossed over his broad chest. The king's most trusted guard stepped forward, "That is young Christopher. He is a great warrior. A stickler for the rules and always eager to please. If I may make a wager your honor?" He asked. When the king nodded he pointed across the arena to a tall woman with short black hair. She wore the pants and a dark green top that stopped just below her breasts and bound her chest down tightly. "Her name is Hayden. She lives just minutes south of here with her family. She is an incredible warrior, and I believe the only things that will give her trouble will be the stealth and weapons competitions. She is decent with a sword, but is much better with knives that she can throw or fight with up close." He informed the king. "Would you care to make a wager on that?" The warrior looked at the king nervously. "I have heard you say that your wife is a great lover of literature. Well if your warrior makes it to the race, she may have free reign to borrow any two books she would like, and the same for you, from my personal library. Then to give you time to read those books you will be given a trip to the eastern shores, on me, for a week. If your warrior wins I will double the entire offer." The warrior's face lit up. This was why the citizens loved their king so much. He knew what they liked and paid attention to their lives, and he was always willing to do things for them. The king held out his arm and the warrior grasped his forearm sealing their deal.

Holly rolled her eyes at their antics. Finally the warrior groups were being called out. "Christopher, Nicholas, Abigail…" Holly stopped paying attention as a small stone-faced woman stepped forward. She wore the same pants as everyone, and a green shirt as short as Hayden's had been but hers had brown sleeves that went down to her elbows. She walked out with a glare more fierce than any Holly had ever seen. That wasn't what had drawn Holly's attention. Nor was it the short, extremely blond shock of hair on her head or her incredible beauty. No it was in fact the large tribal designed tattoo that ran from the base of her neck, over her shoulders, down her spine, to finally wrap around her hips. It was an interesting design. Not many elves had tattoos, and even the ones that did had tattoos that flowed smoothly with curves and soft edges. This tattoo was dark and ended in sharp points and turned with sharp corners. Definitely not an elven design.

Before Holly could ogle any longer the arrows began to fly. Abigail, Nicholas, and Christopher all made perfect bulls-eyes. Ten shots were fired by each competitor. Gail's final shot had gone just high of the center circle. All of the others had practically been on top of each other. That miss cost her one point as all of Nicholas' shots had been bulls-eyes. Christopher got five points. And when Hayden's group got up she got ten points.

30 elves were sent home, mostly the older warriors who could not see as well as the younger warriors. That left 120 of them.

The next round was hand-to-hand combat. The warriors were counted off by twos. The elf closest to their left side with the same number would be their partner. This round was extremely important. Winners would receive ten points while the losers would receive none. This meant that if a competitor lost they were out.

Holly held her breath as she saw Abigail was to face Nicholas. There were ten small rings set up in the arena. Each fight would last for five minutes. If one warrior was knocked unconscious then the other automatically won. Other than that there were three other warriors at each arena to keep score. One point for a body shot, two for a head shot, and three if you knocked your opponent to the ground.

The first competitors stepped into their rings. Abigail and Nicholas were right in the middle of the arena. As soon as they were allowed to begin Abigail dropped down into a low circle sticking her leg out. As she spun her outstretched leg hit Nicholas' legs causing him to fall to the ground. Within seconds of the beginning of the fight Nicholas was laying on his back on the sand gasping for air. He glared up at the blond and began to get up. When he was on his feet Abigail moved again. Quick as a flash she placed two jabs into his stomach before jumping back out of the way.

"Father, do you see this fight in the middle?" Her father had indeed not taken his eyes off of it. "That is Abigail, she prefers to go by Gail. Her father is the honorable William Peck who was injured fighting for our people in the human war. She was dropped off at the training grounds at a very young age and was raised training. She is an excellent fighter." The same warrior from before said. "She has an attitude problem and never mentions anything about her family unless prompted. She is a great mystery to us all." He continued.

Back in the ring Gail had just dodged under a punch Nicholas threw and placed two of her own punches into his stomach before grabbing his legs behind the knees and forcing him to the ground. With only a minute left in the fight it was obvious that Gail was going to win.

As all of the fights reached an end Gail was declared the winner of her fight. She turned and bowed to the king as did every other winner. As she straightened up Nicholas wrapped his arm around her throat and began to choke her. With a bored look on her face Gail leaned forward at the waist and dropped down to one knee. Nicholas not expecting this was thrown forward. He managed to tuck his chin at the last moment to avoid landing directly on his head. Nicholas was sent home immediately for his actions.

The next round included Christopher who was set to fight a young man by the name of Dov. As soon as the match began Christopher ran at the other man. He grabbed him around the waist and tackled him to the ground. Then he delivered one punch to Dov's face that knocked the smaller man unconscious.

The third, fourth, and fifth round held nothing too interesting. Then the sixth round found Hayden facing off with a woman named Traci. This fight was more interesting because the two women were evenly matched. Hayden's more laid back defensive style was good against Traci's offensive technique. Hayden blocked Traci's attack waiting for an opening. Every punch that Traci threw was blocked expertly. Unfortunately for Traci her defense was lacking. Hayden managed to get in a few good strikes, but her defense was not perfect and Traci got a few blows in as well. When the fight ended it was declared a tie. The king was given the choice to let them fight on or send someone else home. King Brian decided to let them fight on and the next point would win.

The two bowed to the king before resuming their fighting stances. As soon as the fight resumed Traci threw a flurry of punches. Hayden dodged by making small movements that took her out of the path of Traci's fist. Then she jumped back a few inches to be out of range. When Traci stopped punching Hayden moved forward again. As she got closer to Traci she threw a kick with all of her strength. Traci brought up her arm to block the kick but she put all of her attention on that foot. Hayden kicked off of the ground on her left leg. She dropped her right foot back to the ground while her left connected with Traci's ribs, hard. This ended the fight with Hayden winning.

There were only 60 warriors left as they moved on to weapon combat.

The same arenas were set up and new partners were chosen. There were four choices for weapons: sword, dual swords, axe, and staff.

Gail stepped into the third ring and into the opposite side of the ring stepped Hayden. Hayden held a single sword while Gail had chosen the dual blades. She held one pointing out in her right hand while the one in her left hand ran parallel to her forearm.

The fight began and Gail swung her right arm around. Hayden blocked the strike but kept an eye on Gail's left arm. She became confused when Gail made no move to strike with her left. Instead she just pulled her right arm back. Hayden thought she had found an opening so she struck out. Gail's left arm shot out blocking the strike. That was when everyone realized Gail's strategy. She would use her right to attack and her left to defend.

The two danced around each other only able to leave small nicks and bruises, but no real damage that would stop the fight. Hayden's moves with the sword were calculated, but also very sloppy. She knew how to use a sword, as did every other elf warrior, but she preferred long range attacks like the bow and arrow or close range hand-to-hand combat without weapons. Gail's moves looked like she was dancing. She was better up close using her weapons they seemed to be a part of her arms. Her moves were not all that different than if she were fighting without the weapons.

After 20 minutes King Brian signaled for the match to stop. The two women were both breathing heavily. Gail had a cut on her cheek and one on her upper arm. Hayden had one on her arm, a shallow cut on her stomach, and a small cut on the middle of her left thigh.

"Both of these women have fought hard. For that reason they shall both remain in this competition." He ordered. The women straightened for just a second before dropping into bows. They stood and grasped forearms in victory.

"The next two challenges will be combined. One of my personal guards has hidden in the forest to the east. You must find him without being caught by the other guards that will be sent in to find you. If you are caught then you are out. If you do not get caught, but you do not find your target then you will receive ten points. If you can find you target without being caught then you will receive 20 points. You will have one hour to complete this task."

The warriors were escorted to the edge of the eastern forest. Gail had put a black hat on to hide her hair. Then they were set loose. The other warriors would give them a two minute head start before they went in after the competitors.

There were three groups of people in this competition. The first group, which included Hayden, spent the two minutes tracking. That way by the time the warriors entered the forest they would be close enough to the target there would be a very slim chance of them getting caught. There were three in that group. The second group had ten members. They were the group that obviously had no clue what they were doing and were caught straight away. The final group, which included Gail, were very good at hiding. They found cover in those two minutes and for the most part the guards ran right passed them. When the guards were far enough away from where she hid Gail would track for a bit before finding a new hiding spot.

Tracking definitely wasn't Gail's strong suit, so she got turned around quite a few times. Finally just before the hour was up she ran into a clearing where the target was waiting to be found. It had been a total accident, not that Gail would ever admit that. She had messed up and left her hiding spot slightly too early and was being chased by a guard. She was running in search of new cover when she stumbled upon the clearing and the target.

At the end of the event there had been a total of 15 competitors who got caught. From there another five were asked to leave because of low scores. That left only ten people to run the race. Gail was one point behind Hayden so she steeled herself to run faster than she had ever run before. She had to come in first otherwise she knew she would get a lecture from her father. She only hoped that tying for first would be good enough to avoid an all-out lecture with yelling and extra training included.

All of the remaining warriors lined up at the start, which just happened to be the far end of the clearing that they were in. They would have to run to the southern edge of the city then turn around and run back to the arena. In total it was about five miles, three to the woods and then two back to the arena.

Gail made sure to line up next to Hayden so that she could be sure that she was keeping pace. The horn was blown for the competitors to begin and Gail and Hayden pulled into the lead within the first two hundred yards. They continued to run in stride with each other all the way to the border. As they made the turn though, Hayden's foot slipped on some leaves and Gail pulled ahead. She was only about a yard or two in front of Hayden and she prayed that it would be enough. That was until they got to the entrance to the arena. They were both breathing heavily, but Hayden began to sprint. When she heard Hayden's steps speed up Gail began to sprint as well. That gap that Gail had created was slowly closing. She just had to make it to the far end of the arena and she would win. Gail dug deep and used the last reserves of energy that she had to propel herself forward. She crossed the finish line one single step before Hayden did.

Everyone turned to the score board and saw that with the way the race had ended the two women were tied for first place both with near perfect scores. "Enjoy your vacation" Brian said grasping forearms with his guard who smiled and nodded.

Hayden and Gail were congratulated and sent to prepare and rest up for the next day. They would report for a formal introduction and tour of the palace at noon the next day. Everyone else was thanked for coming, congratulated on making it so far, but ultimately sent home.

 **A/N: So what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it, but even if you didn't please let me know what you honestly thought of it. I can't get better without people telling me when/ if I suck. Also I am going camping this coming weekend. I will be leaving Friday morning so I will try to get the third chapter up before I go away, but I make no promises.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	3. Developing Strategy

**A/N: So I tried to have this chapter ready and published before I went camping over the weekend, but honestly last week just flew by me and I did not find the time to write. But I am back with another update now.**

 **Now to quickly answer some Guest reviews:**

 **tinq- I really like Hayden as a character and where my brain has taken her within the story. Maybe that's just because I created her and I can do whatever I want with her character and I don't have to worry about it being OOC. Anyway I hope you and everyone else enjoys where her character goes as much as I like writing it.**

 **Debby- Sorry to tell you, but no Hayden will not be pursuing Holly. You will see why in this chapter.**

After leaving Gail and Hayden go their separate ways to their own homes. Gail takes great care in pulling out her dress uniform since she and Hayden were not actually going to be working the next day; they were just being formally introduced to the king and his daughter. The uniform was all white; a loose fitting flowing white shirt with all of the medals and awards she had received on the left side and a green leaf patch on her right arm to signify her allegiance to the king, tight white leather pants not much different from the ones she had worn in the competition except these were full length, a pair of white boots, she would be expected to have her quiver of arrows on her with the strap going from her right shoulder to her left hip and her bow tucked in it along side her arrows, and on her hip was the scabbard that would hold her twin blades, and it was expected to stay in pristine condition even when being worn in the woods. It would definitely be getting more use now that she and Hayden would have to wear them to all of the formal events that Princess Holly was invited to. She took great pride in being able to wear her uniform so before she went to sleep she shined the shoes and her medals and inspected each piece for any imperfections, twice.

The next day Gail woke up earlier than she normally would have. She got out of her bed and took a shower before having a few small bites of lambas bread just to have something in her stomach. Finally she went back into her room and checked over her uniform one last time before she put it on piece by piece. Once she had it on she adjusted every part of the uniform until it was perfect. Then she left and began to walk towards the palace.

She and Hayden had decided to meet early to get to know each other and each others strengths and weaknesses so that they could develop the most effective plan possible. She and Hayden met up inside of the castle where they were escorted to a small office where they would be able to talk to each other undisturbed. They got there and Gail had to admit that Hayden looked really good in her uniform.

They sat down, and began to talk. Hayden decided she wanted to learn about Gail's life and not just her experiences as a warrior. "So I figured we could start with a little bit of back story. It will help us work together if we can get to know each other and possibly even become friends." Gail nodded a little apprehensive of this. She did not really have friends, she had team members, but none of them were ever interested in getting to know her once they learned of her upbringing. "Alright well I never had a family growing up I was dropped off on the border of our lands and adopted by the man who would become my mentor. His name was Thalin and he was a great man. He actually trained me from the time I was little. At first he just wanted me to be able to protect myself, but when I grew increasingly interested he continued to train me and eventually enrolled me in the academy. He continued to train me in our spare time so that I could be the best. He lead me in my first battle. A small group of humans were attacking small villages so my team was sent to stop them and Thalin was our Captain. He gave his life to protect a woman and her child from the humans." Hayden sniffled a little. Gail gave her a tight lipped smile not completely sure what to do in this situation. So she settled for putting a hand on Hayden's shoulder and saying, "He sounds like a great man." Hayden smiled at the woman. "He was, I named my son after him in the hopes that it would inspire him to be brave and kind hearted just as his name sake was." Gail smiled at the mention of a child, she loved children. They had not yet turned into people and therefore were great to talk to and play with. "You have a son, how old is he?" Hayden beamed proudly. She loved talking about her family. "Yes, he is the pride and joy of my wife Elinath and I. He is only five summers but has already decided he wants to be a warrior some day." Gail chuckled lightly at that.

"So what about you? What is your story?" Gail got really hesitant, but knew she would have to share especially since Hayden had already told her so much. "Well I am the only daughter of the great William Peck and the honorable Elaine Peck. As you're probably already aware, my father is considered a great hero in the war between humans and elves. He suffered a devastating blow to his leg protecting the palace from humans and he continued to fight for as long as possible. He is no longer able to walk without a cane, but he managed to hold off the humans long enough for more warriors to come assist him. After that Elaine took a job as a General so that she would not be on the battlefield anymore. Instead she came up with new strategies and training techniques. My older brother Steven is a very decorated warrior and he is actually engaged to be married to Traci the woman you beat up in hand-to-hand combat." Gail attempted to joke, but she was so nervous that Hayden would assume she had somehow gotten special treatment and did not deserve to be on this detail like so many others did. Her worries were eased when Hayden let out a booming laugh. "I ended up joining this competition to prove to Dad and Elaine that I can do this without their help." Hayden noticed that Gail never referred to Elaine as her "mom" or even "mother" but she decided not to say anything about it. "My mentor's name is Oliver. He fought along side my father for much of the war, but declined the promotions that he was offered in order to mentor me. He took me in and treated me more like a daughter than my parents ever did, in fact he still does." Hayden gave her a comforting smile.

"OK enough of this heavy stuff, we need to come up with a strategy that helps us best protect the princess. My strengths are hand-to-hand combat and weapons kind of. I am good with knives, but not much else. I have good endurance and can see and hear better than most elves. And my tracking skills are unmatched." Hayden told the blond. Gail was glad that Hayden had moved the subject away from her personal life. "I am good with my bow and arrows and most other weapons especially the dual swords and my hand-to-hand skills are not bad either. I had an easy partner in the competition but I am able to hold my own. I can blend into any surrounding and hide from even the best trackers." She added in the last part with a smirk. "We may have to see about that someday" Hayden matched her smirk. "I was also trained by my father and Elaine to focus and see the things that most other people miss, so I will be able to spot anyone lurking about and trying to hide. I just need the time and space to be able to search a crowd without having too much attention on me." They thought for a couple of minutes in silence about how they could use the skills that they had.

"What if, at least for now, I play close guard to the princess? I will be at her side at all times, and every public event she goes to I will be right there. While you stay further back. You said you can blend into the crowd easily and it will give you the space you need to scan the area for any danger. If you are in uniform and among the crowd, no offense, but it will seem like you are there to rub elbows with your superiors and the friends of your parents." Gail tried really hard not to be offended and it was working for the most part. It was hard to deny that it is exactly what it would look like for her to be in the crowd at those parties and other events. Hayden picked up on Gail's discomfort with the situation so she spoke up, "You would have to spend time in the crowd so that you can know who is there as well as I will. However, if you find a hiding spot that gives you a better vantage and keeps you hidden I, of course, encourage that course of action." Hayden told her with a wink letting her know that she understood. Gail let out a relieved sigh and smiled her thanks and nodded her approval to the plan.

Once their meeting was done they both stood and grasped forearms. This was not just a gesture that solidified their agreement, but it also signified that each of them trusted the other not to screw up and to have each other's back.

It was a few minutes later that a woman entered the room telling them that the king was ready to meet with them. They each checked their uniforms one last time making sure nothing had gotten out of order in the last couple of hours before following the woman to the throne room where the king was waiting for them.

 **A/N: I've decided to cut it off there otherwise I would not be able to update today, and I really wanted to at least get you guys something. As always I will update as soon as I can, but please leave me a review for this chapter. I can't get better if you don't tell me what you think of my writing.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	4. Introductions

**A/N: I'm back! I don't have much to say here, so I'll address a couple of anonymous reviewers and then we'll get on to the story.**

 **Debby and Guest: I'm so glad that both of you are enjoying this story and are excited to read more. I'm excited to write more and I hope you both continue to enjoy the story.**

 **Now everyone enjoy chapter 4**

Gail and Hayden were lead into the throne room where King Brian was sitting on his throne waiting for the two to arrive. They walked to the end of the isle right before the steps that lead to the throne. There they dropped to one knee and bowed their heads. "Rise" the king ordered after only a few seconds. He got uncomfortable when his subjects bowed to him for too long. He had been a commoner in the time where the old tyrannical king had been in power. When he was recruited into a rebellious army he had fought bravely and had done everything that he could to not only bring down the king but also to help the other commoners. After the fall of the king and during the time of rebuilding the people had seen Brian's loyalty and decided to make him the new king. He worked hard every day to be worthy of the praise he received even if he personally felt there was nothing special about him that qualified him to be king, but he cared about his people and made sure to take care of every single one of them.

"You're highness" Hayden spoke as she returned to standing, she and Gail both automatically standing at attention. "It is an honor to serve you and protect the princess." Brian looked back and forth between the two women. He had seen the skills that they each possessed. "I am a lucky king. I have an amazing daughter who has helped me through the most difficult time of my life. Now because of that she is in danger." He looked up and down each woman, not in a sexual way, seeing that they both seemed to take pride in the uniform that they wore. Everything about their uniforms was in perfect order. "Despite the danger she is in my daughter refuses to back down from her duties. She refuses to stay within the city to take care of her business, insisting that if she shows that she is afraid that those who are after her win. Holly will be attending balls and making speeches within the palace and the city as well as in other cities. She has also set up a meeting to negotiate our treaty with the human king. He refuses to negotiate with anyone but her because she created the treaty in the first place. This meeting will take place on their land. You both will attend every event and travel with her to keep her safe." The two women were looking straight ahead and nodded at his statement. They had already known that. "My daughter is all that I have left, she means more to me than anything. Please keep her safe." The vulnerability in his tone at that last statement shocked both women. They had only ever heard their king speak with confidence.

After his speech Hayden and Gail began to explain to him their plans for protecting Holly. They were surprised by the informality of the meeting. Of course the king had questions about the effectiveness of their strategy, especially the part where Gail would be hidden trying to spot danger. He worried that she would not be fast enough to protect Holly from a threat if she did spot one. Even though he had concerns Brian continuously cracked jokes about the meetings Holly would be attending. The two women became more and more comfortable and found themselves slipping out of the serious facade that they had been trained to wear when in uniform and on the job.

Finally Brian stood up from the table he had brought in for them to sit at. He did not like sitting in his throne and having people speak up to him, he much preferred to be on the same level as them. "Now that I have seen your plans I have more confidence in your ability to protect my daughter. Follow me, I know she has been waiting impatiently to meet the two of you."

The two followed the king and his guards as they walked down the corridors. After a few minutes of walking they stopped outside of a large wooden door. Brian knocked loudly and mere seconds later the door was thrown open by the most beautiful woman Gail had ever seen. "My dearest daughter, I have brought your guards to be introduced to you." He said. Gail and Hayden moved to drop into bows, but before their knees hit the ground Holly spoke up "please do not bow to me." Her request, which anyone who heard it knew it was more of an order, had both women shooting back up to their feet. They stood at attention once more unsure of how to act in this situation. "Holly, this is Hayden" Brian pointed at the brunette with his entire hand, "and Gail" he pointed to Gail in the same manner. Holly smiled at the two and it was the most beautiful smile that Gail had ever seen. She was mesmerized, and she almost missed what the princess was saying because she was hypnotized by the movement of her lips. She caught herself though and managed to pull herself out of her stupor and began to pay attention. "It is wonderful to meet the two of you. I am so grateful that you are willing to protect me. I know based on what I saw that you are both amazing warriors." Gail's chest swelled with pride at the compliment from the beautiful woman.

"I will leave the three of you to get acquainted." Brian said as he and his guards walked away.

The three stood in silence for a little while before Holly began to speak again. "Please come in and have a seat." There were a couple of chairs set up around the room, but all of the chairs faced into the room and would not allow anyone sitting in them to see the door and the other chair was angled in a way that would block the view of the window. Gail and Hayden shared a look both having noticed the same thing. "Thank you for the offer your highness, but the two of us are more than happy to remain standing." Gail said. She was shocked that she was able to string together that sentence properly and respectfully, because ever since she had laid eyes on the princess her brain had been unable to function properly. "As you wish" Holly said claiming one of the chairs for herself. Gail and Hayden stood against the wall opposite the princess bodies angled slightly outward away from each other. Gail's body faced the window so she could keep an eye out there, and Hayden's body was angled towards the door so she could do the same there. The two both still stood at attention their faces expressionless.

"You guys can relax" Holly spoke softly. The two moved out of their stances at attention and stood slightly more relaxed with their feel shoulder width apart and their hands behind their backs. Holly was intrigued by the two. They had continuously moved as a unit since she had seen them. "Have the two of you known each other long?" She could not stop herself from asking. It was Hayden who answered her, "no we have only known each other for a few hours. We spoke briefly at the competition, but that was more of a polite 'hello' as we passed by each other or a nod of the head to acknowledge each other's victories." Holly was shocked by this. The three continued to talk. Well by "talk" it was more Holly asking questions about their training and skills and the two giving the best answers they could.

Holly had been about to answer another question when Gail spotted something at the window. She turned her head to get a better look when an arrow was fired through the glass. Gail had already been in motion so she got to the princess before the arrow did and she grabbed it out of the air a full foot before it hit Holly. Then through the shattered window came two people dressed completely in black with black masks over their faces. One of them was tall and muscular, Gail assumed this one was a man, the other was petite, but anyone with eyes could see the power held in her body, there was no assuming this one was a woman. Gail stepped forward to meet them. She blocked one punch to the face from the petite one and aimed a kick to the chest of the taller one causing him to crash back into the wall. She pushed on the arm that she held sending the petite one into the larger one. She turned her head just enough to yell "get her out of here! Go back to the throne room, find the king, and send help if you can! Go!" she yelled. She watched Hayden nod and grab a shocked Holly by the wrist pulling her out of the room.

Gail turned back to the assailants and was met with a hard punch to the face by the big one. When he aimed another punch at her she grabbed his wrist with both hands, turning her body in the same direction as his momentum, as she turned she pulled down on his wrist flipping the giant over her hip and onto his back on the floor. He was winded so Gail turned back to the woman. She was definitely more technical and careful about where her punches would go. She waited for her opportunities. She had just gotten a combination two body shots and an upper cut on Gail when she heard the man approaching her from behind. He did not seem to be focused on anything except for her. Just before he attacked her from behind the woman shifted her weight to punch. Gail dropped down and spun kicking out her foot, much like she had done to Nick during the competition, and swept his leg out. The difference between this and the kick she sent at Nick was that this man had been moving forward, so when she kicked out his leg his momentum sent him flying over her body and right into the woman.

Gail stood back up in a fighting stance and saw that neither of them seemed to be able to continue to fight. She moved forward swiftly but carefully and reached for the mask of the woman. She pulled it off to reveal Traci, not only her brother's fiancee but also a member of the elven army. Shocked she quickly reached down and removed the man's mask revealing Christopher another elven guard and someone she had actually trained with. Her shock and the betrayal she felt was written on her face.

Before she could say anything she heard clapping behind her. She spun quickly dropping back into her fighting stance. She straightened up when she saw the king and his guards smiling at her and clapping. Holly and Hayden stood just behind them looking just as confused as Gail was. "I must apologize Gail and Hayden, but I had to make sure that you would be able to protect my daughter if something were to happen. I saw you fight in a controlled environment, but I had to see how you would react when the pressure was increased. I hired Traci and Christopher to stage this attack." Brian admitted. Gail let out a relieved sigh that this had all been set up. "Wait so you hired someone to shoot an arrow at your daughter's face?" Gail asked incredulously. Traci spoke up from where she ad Chris had picked themselves off of the floor. "I knew you would get there in time, and even if you hadn't the arrow would have missed Holly and hit the back of the chair she was sitting in." Gail was a little wary of that but she let it go.

"I hope I have not offended either of you with this. From what I have seen you are both more than qualified to protect my daughter. You are dismissed to return home for the evening. Please return early tomorrow morning to really begin your duties." Brian said before he and his guard left. Gail and Hayden shook hands with Traci and Chris who congratulated them again before leaving. Finally it was just the three of them again. "Thank you both for what you did today. Even if it wasn't real it sure felt like it was." Gail and Hayden dropped into less formal bows simply bending at the waist rather than kneeling on the ground. Then Holly dismissed them with one final "thank you" and they left.

When they got outside they prepared to go their separate ways to get home when Hayden turned to Gail, "would you like to come back to my home for dinner?" She asked. Gail was stunned for a moment. She had never been asked to do that. "My wife, Elinath, is making a celebratory dinner for my first day in this job. It would be great if you could join us." Gail, not wanting to go home to her empty house, smiled at the other woman and agreed.

 **A/N: So what do y'all think? Leave a review and let me know whether or not you liked it or if there is something that you want to see happen. If you send me a review or a PM with a suggestion I will try my best to work it into the story somehow. I will be updating as soon as I can. I may do some writing over the weekend when I go camping since I only have one more chapter outlined, and I hope to have it up in the next week or so but I am not making any promises about that.**

 **Until Next Time  
** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	5. Meeting the Family

**A/N: Hey y'all! I'm back! So like I wrote in the author's note at the end of the last chapter I went camping over the weekend with some friends, including my girlfriend. So I didn't end up getting a chapter up before I left like I wanted to, I just got swamped at work. But I'm back from camping, miss my girlfriend like crazy, and am still swamped in work. So this chapter is going to be more rushed so I apologize for any mistakes that I make. One more note before we go to the guest reviews and continue with the story. Other than Hayden and Brian who have "human" names and are my own created characters I am going to attempt to give my other OCs elf names, so bare with me on that. Review time!**

 **Debby: For the last two chapters you have been the first reviewer and I want to give you a shout out. Also I'm so glad that you continue to enjoy this story it means a lot that there are people who are enjoying my writing.**

 **Qbonbon: You're absolutely right. I have been completely neglecting one of the most important things that makes Gail Gail. From now on you, and everyone else, has my word that I am going to try my hardest to keep her snarky and sarcastic.**

 **tinq: I don't actually even know where that idea came from. I was really surprised when it popped into my head, but after I wrote it I loved it.**

 **Guest: I'm glad you like the story and I hope you keep reading and continue to leave reviews because reviews make me super happy.**

 **Now then ON WITH THE STORY!**

Hayden lead Gail down the short path that would take them to the modest one story cabin that she, her wife, and their son shared. They were just at the gate when a young boy came hurtling out of the house. He yelled "ammè" (Mommy) as he crashed into Hayden's legs nearly taking her to the ground. As it was she had to reach back and put one hand on the gate to steady herself. When she regained her balance she reached down and lifted the boy onto her hip. "Thalin, this is my partner and my new friend Gail. Can you say 'hi?'" Hayden asked gently. He tucked his head into her neck and waved at her shyly. Hayden chuckled and Gail smiled and waved back at the boy.

They turned back to the path that lead up to the door and saw a tall blond haired woman leaning against the door frame with a smile on her face. "Thing for blonds huh? Is that why you were so willing to be my partner and listen to what I had to say?" Gail asked Hayden with a cheeky grin. Hayden reached out and pushed Gail's shoulder causing the shorter woman to stumble a couple of steps off of the path before stepping back to where she was. "Wasn't nice ammè" Thalin said with an obvious pout in his voice. "You should 'polgize" He spoke in the cutest voice. Gail smiled triumphantly as Hayden turned and apologized in a monotonous voice that showed her obvious contempt for the apology her son was making her give. Gail stuck her tongue out and smirked.

They got to the edge of the porch and Hayden put Thalin down. The blond in the doorway told him to go wash up because dinner was almost ready. "Gail I would like you to meet my beautiful wife Elinath." (Elinath means star) Hayden spoke with pride in her voice as she walked up the two steps on the porch and swiftly crossed over to her wife. She pulled the other woman into a gentle kiss that conveyed all of her love and adoration. They pulled apart and Gail bowed her head slightly to the other blond in a show of respect. "So you're the brave woman who is putting up with Hayden. I must admit I do not envy you even a little bit. One day with her and I'm starting to rethink this job." Gail said in a light joking voice. Hayden walked over and pushed her lightly "excuse you I am an absolute delight to be around." Gail shoved her back "maybe from your perspective, but not from where I'm standing." The two locked onto each others arms and began to push each other. They were locked in that position for a few seconds both pushing with all of their strength before Hayden used her height advantage to push down on Gail's shoulders causing the other woman to sink to the ground. They rolled around for a few minutes before Elinath spoke up "If Thalin comes out and sees this you're both in trouble." She teased. The two women stopped moving. "But she started it!" They shouted in unison causing Elinath to laugh loudly as she went back into the cabin.

Hayden scrambled to her feet and paused only to help Gail get up before she was running to follow her wife into the cabin, Gail was right beside her. Elinath was at the stove while Thalin was busy setting plates onto the table. Hayden wrapped her arms around her wife's waist turning her around and putting her forehead against the blond's. "Don't be mad baby" She said lightly before placing her lips gently over her wife's. The moment was broken by fake gagging sounds. The couple looked over to see Gail teaching their son to make vomit noises as they kissed. "Get a room!" Gail shouted. "Yeah, get a room!" Thalin echoed even though he had no clue what that meant.

Elinath chuckled at their antics before extricating herself from her wife's arms and moving to the stove. Everything had finished cooking so she began to hand bowls of food to Hayden to take over to the table. Once everything was out they all moved to the table. Hayden pulled out a chair for Elinath and the other three waited until she was seated as a sign of respect and appreciation for the food she had slaved away to prepare for them. Hayden moved to the chair at the head of the table to Elinath's left, Thalin was on Hayden's left, and Gail was seated at the other end of the table across from Hayden.

The food was served and everyone began to eat. It was vegetable casserole with small pieces of cooked salmon in it and a beautiful red wine to drink. Hayden and Elinath attempted to have a grown up discussion about the day, but they were distracted by Gail who was entrancing Thalin with an overly exaggerated recollection of what had happened. It involved six men all eight feet tall, and Gail told about how Hayden had run from the room screaming in terror. So Gail had to protect the princess and defeat the men all by herself. There were sound effects and slow motion karate chops and punches included. The story left Thalin in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Even Elinath had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the story. "No way my ammè wouldn't run from danger. She's strong, and tough, and brave, it must've been you that ran away!" Thalin said pointing his fork at Gail accusingly. Hayden chuckled at her son's faith in her. "No son, she's kind of telling the truth. I took the princess and ran out of the room to get her to safety. But what she didn't tell you is that as soon as I knew the princess was safe I went back to help her." Thalin gave Gail a triumphant look. Gail shot a glare at Hayden then met Thalin's smug grin with a look of disinterest and said, "whatever she still screamed like a little girl." She grumped folding her arms across her chest.

After dinner was finished Elinath brought out a berry lembas cake with homemade whipped cream for dessert. She cut each of them a small piece, since none of them would actually be able to eat more than that. Then she put the rest of it back in the fridge for them to enjoy later.

Gail complimented the entire meal before insisting that she do the dishes. Elinath tried to convince her that she would do them, but Gail would not have it since Elinath had spent all evening cooking. Elinath finally agreed when Gail told her that she would make Hayden help while she put Thalin to bed.

Once all of that was taken care of they all sat in chairs on the porch with one last glass of wine each. Hayden and Elinath were sharing a wooden bench and Hayden had her arm around Elinath's shoulders and she placed a kiss to the crown of her forehead. Elinath asked for a real explanation of the day's events. Gail smirked, "it went down exactly as I told Thalin that it did. That's my story and I'm sticking to it." She took a sip of wine while Hayden gave her a small glare. Then Hayden told the story in detail, the correct details, about what had happened. From meeting the king to the fight that had happened. "Well Gail, I am impressed that you could remain so composed as to take down two opponents while still making sure the princess remained safe." Gail waved off her praise and took another sip of wine in an attempt to hide her blush. "She was impressive? What about me?" Hayden asked sensing Gail's discomfort. "Aw honey, you know I think you're great, but there isn't anything all that spectacular about running." She said with a wink. This caused Gail to snort into her wine glass almost choking and spilling it all over herself. Hayden pouted but it was quickly wiped away by a kiss to her lips.

The three continued to talk until their wine glasses were empty. Then Gail excused herself to go home. She thanked Elinath for the food once more, and Elinath insisted that she come around more often. Gail promised that she would at the next opportunity that she got.

As she walked home Gail thought over the events of the night and smiled. That was the most care free she had been in a long time, and she had definitely never felt that comfortable around anyone else before.

 **A/N: Ta Da! What do you think? Love it? Hate it? leave a review and let me know.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold The Line and Don't Look Back


	6. First day on the job

**A/N: Alrighty then, I am back with yet another chapter. Just so that everyone knows I am going based on the elven societies created by Tolkien. In his creation of the elves they have a six day week. Just a heads up. On to some reviews then the chapter.**

 **Debby: That was the idea behind the chapter. I was hoping it came off that way, plus it kind of shows Gail is growing and instead of pushing everyone away she is finally letting people in.**

 **dareu12: I'm glad you like it and I hope you keep liking it and keep reviewing.**

 **tinq: RIGHT?! It took me so long to decide how to portray him, and I'm so glad that you like him because I definitely do.**

The next day Gail woke up with the sun. She quickly dressed for her first official day protecting Holly. She was not required to wear her dress uniform so she pulled on a pair of black leather pants, a loose fitting short sleeved green t-shirt, and her black combat boots. Her quiver of arrows and bow were strapped to her back and her swords were secured in their sheath at her waist. Leaving her house she walked along the path to the spot where she and Hayden had agreed to meet. Within a minute Hayden arrived as well. She wore the same clothes as Gail, but her shirt was sleeveless. Gail smirked as she saw the brunette jogging over. "Trying to show off?" Hayden chuckled and pushed Gail's shoulder lightly. "What's wrong with sharing my perfect physique with the world?" She joked flexing. Gail bent at the waist making fake gagging noises. Hayden dropped her arms and glared at Gail. She pushed the blond to the ground where Gail fell into an uncontrollable laughing fit. Hayden began to walk away so Gail calmed down a little and pulled herself to her feet unable to hold in a few chuckles as she caught up to the other warrior.

By the time they arrived to the palace there was no hint of their joking. Both of them had adopted serious facial expressions. They arrived at the door and were immediately joined by another guard. He inspected them quickly and silently before sending them down to Holly's room.

At the door to the room Hayden raised her arm and knocked. The door was answered by Holly in shorts and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The pair bowed briefly. Holly sighed; she had asked them not to bow formally, dropping to one knee until she told them to stand, unless they were in a more public or more formal setting, so they had come up with a bent at the waist bow, and Holly still did not like it at all. She stepped out of the doorway to let them into the room.

"Princess, what is on your schedule for today?" Gail asked standing in front of the window. She was facing out checking for any threats. She did not want the events of the previous day to happen again even if the threat before had not been real. "I will be going on a jog around the city this morning like I try to do every day. It gives me exercise and a chance to talk to many of my subjects." Gail spun around to face Holly "Your Majesty, I must advise against this. By going for this run you put yourself in the open making yourself vulnerable." She said. "Which is why I waited so that you can accompany me." Holly spoke like it was obvious, which in her mind it was. "Nope, exercise and I are not friends." Gail said crossing her arms and standing her ground. She thought this was a horrible idea and was going to do everything in her power to stop Holly from putting herself in danger like this. "I watched you run five miles in just over half an hour!" Holly shouted incredulously. "I only run when I have to" Gail insisted back feeling her annoyance grow.

Hayden stepped up, "I'll go with you Princess. Gail can remain here to make sure that the palace stays secure." Gail clenched her teeth, this was a bad idea she knew it. She also knew no matter what she would not win this argument. Holly may not realize it yet, but she could just order Gail to go with her then the blond would have to go despite her reservations about it. Or she could take her chances with being charged with the highest form of insubordination: also known as treason. Gritting her teeth Gail nodded, but both brunettes could see that she did not actually agree. As a final display of her distaste for the plan Gail bowed, bending at the waist, low and dropped her head down, but instead of standing back up straight right away she waited until Hayden and Holly had left to straighten up.

When they realized Gail wouldn't budge from her bow until they were gone Hayden grabbed Holly's hand and led her to the front entrance of the palace. From there they set out with Hayden slightly behind Holly so that she could scan the sides of the streets for threats, and she would be able to see Holly at all times.

They ran in silence along the streets of the city. Holly kept a good pace, but Hayden had no trouble keeping up. They reached the border to the Southern woods and Hayden began to turn around, but she stopped when she realized Holly was still moving forward. She grabbed Holly's wrist pulling her to a stop. "I'd like to keep going" Holly stated like she expected Hayden to agree with no problem. She tried to move forward again, but Hayden held tight to her wrist "Holly that's really not a good idea." Hayden warned. "If I show fear to enter these woods, which need I remind you are neutral territory, then my people will always be afraid as well." Reluctantly Hayden let go of Holly's wrist.

As they began to run again Hayden sent a message through the wind to Gail. That was a skill that all warriors were taught, whispering through the wind. Elven warriors would often find themselves spread out and on their own with no way to communicate. One warrior found a way to send a message through the wind to the rest of the army and they had been using it ever since.

Gail had been pacing the floor in Holly's room anxiously waiting for the two to get back. She was muttering under her breath about a "reckless princess" and a "no good rotten pushover partner." That's when she heard it. There was a slight breeze through the window and like a whisper Hayden's voice sounded in her ears, "Southern woods, enter by bakery, headed southwest, keep hidden." As soon as the message was over Gail ran as fast as she could out of the palace towards the Southern woods. When she got there she jumped into a tree and began to run along the branches. This was another skill all elves were taught, because stealth was such a big part of their fighting style, and Gail was exceptional at it. She quickly caught up to Holly and Hayden. She stepped heavily on the next branch causing the leaves on it to shake, to alert Hayden that she was there.

Hayden had made Holly slow down so that Gail would have time to catch up before they got too far in. When a branch above them shook loudly Holly jumped and mumbled something about "damn squirrels" which made Hayden chuckle under her breath. "Come on Princess let's speed it up. I want to get out of these woods as soon as possible." Holly looked back with a smirk before setting off as fast as she could. Hayden sped up behind her whispering a new message for Gail.

"Let's see what you got Peck" came a whisper as Gail watched the two below her speed up. With a growl she sped up so that she was in line with her counterparts on the ground.

Hayden and Holly continued to run in silence. They reached a small clearing and decided to turn around.

They were reaching the edge of the woods when a figure dropped out of the trees in front of them just outside of the tree line. Holly screamed for all she was worth until she realized the figure was Gail. They got closer and saw Gail bent at the waist with her hands on her knees breathing heavily. Then she leaned backwards and flopped to the ground with her arms lying haphazardly above her head. "Why do you assholes have to run so fast?" She asked through giant gulps of air too tired to remember her manners. Hayden chuckled, "Aw too much food last night?" She taunted causing Gail to glare up at her.

Holly was stood next to Hayden completely confused. "Gail? What are you doing here?" She asked. "I told her to come when I realized we were going into the woods." Hayden confessed. "Why?" Holly was still very confused. "Princess these woods may be supposedly neutral ground, but the humans walk around and hunt there like it's their land." Hayden told her. Breathing better Gail pulled herself to her feet. "Excuse my interruption, but I think we should head back to the palace to have this discussion." The blond suggested.

The three began to run back to the palace taking the straight path Gail had used rather than the side streets Hayden and Holly had used. Holly looked over at Hayden then turned her head the other way to look at Gail. Except Gail had somehow disappeared. Holly began to look around causing Hayden to smirk. "She's good at that isn't she?" Holly asked. "The best" was Hayden's reply.

Nothing else was said between them as the palace came into view. They went directly to Holly's room where Gail was leaning against the doorframe. "Hallway and bedroom clear" she said nodding to Hayden who lead Holly inside. Holly decided to have a quick shower before they talked.

While she was showering Gail and Hayden decided it was best to tell Holly the truth.

When Holly came out of the bathroom she offers to let her two guards shower, but they both declined since neither of them had extra clothes to put on anyway.

"Now, what did you mean back there about the humans?" She demanded sitting down on her bed and starting to brush out her hair. "There have been more than a handful of elves that ended up dead in those woods by human weapons." Hayden spoke gently as she moved to sit down next to Holly while Gail leaned against the wall opposite them. Hayden continued in a soft voice that she would use to tell Thalin bad news, "at the beginning of the treaty elves went into the woods like they had before. Within the first week they found two elves dead, they had been shot by human weapons. The elves became more cautious only going into the woods when necessary and with a group. Until a whole group of five were found shot too. Then the elves stopped going into the woods altogether." Holly spoke up, "how can you be sure that they were human weapons that killed them?" Then it was Gail's turn, "As part of the treaty we were given a couple of human weapons. We shot dead pigs with both weapons. The wounds were similar, but very distinct. The wounds on the dead elves definitely came from human weapons. **(A/N: Yay forensics! I had to, OK sorry keep reading)** Holly was shocked and also fascinated. "I'll have to bring this up when I meet with the human king next week." She thought out loud.

"Princess there is nothing more you can do right now. But you must continue on as you have been. Your bravery is inspiring your people." Gail said. Holly looked up at her and brown eyes met blue and the two women froze staring at each other. Hayden looked back and forth between them and couldn't help but smirk at the obvious attraction they had for each other. The smirk fell from her face when she realized that attraction could be a problem for her and Gail's mission. She would have to talk to Gail about it later. For now she cleared her throat bringing them back to reality.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Holly was in and out of meetings all day. She had one with her father where they discussed the threat the humans posed. Then she had a meeting to discuss her schedule for the next week. The warrior academy graduation was in the middle of the week and her birthday was at the end of the week so there was a grand ball planned to celebrate.

As dinner time rolled around the king came up to Gail and Hayden. "One of you may go home now. The other will stay until midnight when you will switch until 6am when you are both back on duty. This is your schedule until Holly is safe." He told them. "Do you understand?" The two nodded. As he went to leave the two bowed formally until he was out of the room.

"Go on; spend time with your family. Tell them I say 'hello' and enjoy your dinner. Don't be late coming back or I'll kick your ass." Gail threatens. Hayden gives Gail a wide smile before taking off to get home as soon as possible.

"That was really nice of you." Holly said entering her room from her last meeting of the day. "She has family waiting for her, I don't." She moved to the door. She was halfway out when she leaned her upper body back in. "Get some sleep; I'll be right outside the door if you need anything." Holly smiled at her. "Gail, thank you for everything." Gail gave her a genuine smile before completely leaving the room and closing the door until it was ajar.

 **A/N: Da da-da! What do y'all think? Let me know in a review. Flames welcome if you really didn't like it. And if you have any ideas please let me know in either a review or a PM and if I can I will do my best to work it into the plot.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold The Line and Don't Look Back


	7. Training Montage

**A/N: Wow, holy shit guys I'm so sorry! My girlfriend keeps telling me that I'm a bum, and now I believe her. I encourage each of you to review and call me a bum or some other mild insult, my ego can only take so much. It's been way too long since I last wrote. I don't have an excuse I have loads of time to do so, but whenever I have free time I end up doing nothing. Anyway this is the last chapter that I had outlined so if I don't outline the next chapter in the next few days it will probably be a while before I can update again. Anyway lets move onto some reviews then the chapter that you've all waited so patiently for...**

 **Guest (1): Thank you so much. It means a lot that you like my story and want to keep reading it.**

 **Guest (2): Well the waiting is over**

 **Tinq: I'm sorry that I broke up your friendship and made you wait so long. There are some minor Golly moments coming up, but you have to remember it's Gail's job to protect Holly therefore there can't be any big romantic scenes between them... Or can there?**

After their shift change Gail went home and got some sleep. She arrived back at the palace at 6am sharp, as instructed, to find Hayden in the chair in the same position she had been in at midnight. "What are you, a statue?" Gail asked. Hayden's attention snapped over to the blond. "Whoa, calm down, it's just me." Gail said when she saw Hayden's hand seek out the hilt of her sword. Hayden apologized and dropped her hand.

Hayden stood from her seat and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm glad you're back I think we should do a walkthrough of the palace and the surrounding area." She suggested. "How about we do two separate walkthroughs then compare notes. That way someone is here with the princess at all times just in case." Hayden agreed to go first so she could stretch her legs.

Hayden returned in just over an hour. She had found a couple of weak spots in security. Gail said she would check them out more thoroughly as she walked off.

Coming back she agrees with Hayden about the weak spots. They would either need to keep their eyes on them or post guards there. The decision would be made by the king. "I also found a disturbance in a hiding spot I scoped out in case of an outdoor event. There's a chance that it's just an animal, but I'll point it out to you just in case." Hayden nodded and was about to speak when the two heard Holly getting up.

They heard her walking across the room opening and closing drawers. They waited about five minutes before knocking.

Holly opened the door wearing similar clothes to what she had worn the day before. "We are not going for another run." Gail said firmly. "No I, I want you guys to teach me how to fight. I don't want to ever feel as helpless as I did that day in the garden." Gail and Hayden shared a look. "I will ask your father for permission when I meet with him for his daily progress report. If he agrees then we would be honored to help you." Hayden promised, and Holly smiled at them in thanks.

Hayden left the room not long after that to go meet with King Brian. Hayden and Gail had decided that they would switch who goes to the meeting each day so that one of them was with Holly at all times. Of course the king agreed, "anything to keep my daughter safe" were his exact words.

"Can we at least go for a walk in the gardens while we wait? I feel kind of trapped in here and just want some fresh air." Holly asked. Gail was a little reluctant with the security flaws and her being alone. If someone were to attack she may not be able to protect Holly on her own. But she agreed anyway unable to say no when Holly started pouting.

They walked side by side each of them stealing glances at the other out of the corner of their eyes. Gail also managed to keep a close eye on the bushes that surrounded the palace. Holly stopped to check on a few flowers. She bent over and pulled a small rose to her nose so that she could sniff it. That's when Gail got the confirmation of the king's approval to train Holly. Hayden told her to go ahead and that she would be there as soon as she got out of the meeting.

"Princess, your father has agreed to let us train you a little. I'll start and Hayden will be out to help as soon as she can." Holly nodded excitedly. Gail led her over to a large clear area. "So I want to start with some techniques that that will let you use the momentum of the other person to your advantage." Gail was a little nervous to demonstrate the techniques on Holly because she didn't want to hurt her, but she had no other choice. She would just have to be extra careful and extra gentle.

"OK Princess, throw a punch at me." Holly made an awkward looking fist and drew her arm back "Hold on, that's my fault I assumed you knew how to punch, but now that I think about it you've never needed to learn." She held Holly's fist in her hands. She felt a spark run through her and she looked up locking her eyes on Holly's. They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before Gail shook her head and cleared her throat. She dropped her gaze to Holly's hand. "If you punch with your hand like this you'll break your hand. You need to clench your four fingers tightly into your palm. Then bring your thumb across the front of them. Not inside your fist and not to the side of the fingers." She demonstrated and Holly copied her.

"Now throw a punch at me." Holly looked a lot smoother punching this time. She punched and Gail side stepped a little. "Grab the wrist," Gail demonstrated slowly as she spoke. "Pull forward a little, and then you have two options. One is a hand to the shoulder and stick your foot out." Gail did it slowly and gently lowered Holly to the ground. Holly got up and did the moves that she was just shown. "The second option is to grab the elbow and push the top of their arm to their shoulder. If you do it right they'll be off balance and fall on their back. If you do this hold on to the wrist." Gail was bent over Holly who was lying on her back and they were both painfully aware of it. "Either poke their eyes or punch the throat. Then using their arm roll them over and apply downward pressure to the wrist until it breaks. Then get up and run like Hell." Gail offered a hand to help Holly up. "Let's practice the first maneuver until Hayden gets here and I can better demonstrate the second way." They ran through the moves several times at what Gail would describe as a snail pace.

Hayden came jogging over to the two of them. "Good, Hayden punch me." Gail instructed as soon as the brunette stopped running. Hayden shrugged and took her offensive stance and threw a punch at Gail's face. Gail executed the moves and had Hayden on her face on the ground with her arm behind her back in a second. "Again" she instructed. Hayden stood up, retook her stance, and punched forward again. This one took a little longer, but in under ten seconds Hayden was tapping out of the wrist lock.

They turned back to Holly, "I'm going to do that one again a little slower so you can get a better idea of the moves. Then it'll be your turn."

When it was Holly's turn she was very slow which allowed Gail to maintain her balance. She refused to go to the ground unless Holly made her. Which is why she was so surprised when on the third attempt Holly actually managed to get her on the ground. When Holly got to the wrist lock she tried to use just her thumbs to push and was getting no leverage. "Move your hands up so that the meats of your thumbs are on either side of my hand. Then push my hand back and twist outwards towards my pinky." Holly did as she was told and Gail tapped out quickly.

They practiced these and a couple of other moves like basic blocks and a hip throw. Holly was able to throw Gail around like a sack of potatoes by lunch time, much to Hayden's amusement.

They took a break for lunch before going back outside. "OK enough of the physical stuff for now. You'll be sore enough in the morning as it is. Right now we're going to teach you to whisper into the wind. This is a way to contact us even if we're miles away." Holly nodded. Gail sat down on a bench on the other side of the garden. "OK Holly, are you ready?" At her nod Hayden began to give her instructions.

"Take a deep breath in and clear your mind. It might take a second the first few times so just keep taking those deep breaths." Holly had to breathe for about a minute before her shoulders loosened and her body relaxed. "Now focus on the air around you. When you breathe in feel it in your lungs. Now as you breathe out whisper whatever you want to say." Holly began to speak. "Now think about Gail and where she is and let the wind carry your words to her."

Hayden looked over at Gail who gave her a thumbs down. Holly saw that and her shoulders slumped. "Princess nobody expects you to get it on the first try. Just refocus and try again."

After a few more attempts Gail began to hear mumbles. They were indiscernible but definitely from Holly.

They practiced for over an hour, but Holly just could not get the words clearly to Gail.

"Let's take a break. Get some water we'll pick up in a little bit." Hayden suggested as she waved Gail over. Holly had barely sat down when the bushes next to them began to rustle. In seconds Gail stood in front of Holly with her swords drawn and Hayden was behind the princess with an arrow nocked and her bow string pulled back.

 **A/N: I'm just a horrible person aren't I? I make you wait two weeks for a cliffhanger! Leave me a comment on whether or not you liked the chapter. Let me know who you think is in the bushes. As always suggestions are welcome through either a review or a PM. I hope to have the next chapter to you soon.**

 **Until next time,  
** Hold The Line and Don't Look Back


	8. Belle of the Ball

**A/N: Hey y'all! So I actually wasn't planning on updating today, but I outlined the chapter yesterday and got so into it that I worked through my lunch break and actually almost got in trouble for it. Then when I got home I got so busy doing other things, but I'm here now so let's go!**

 **Guest 1: Well I'm glad you like the story. I'm trying to update once a week, but that doesn't always happen. But stick around maybe it'll work at some point.**

 **Debby: I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I have sped up the story a little bit by skipping over a few days. It will be explained a little bit better in this chapter why I can't rush Gail and Holly as a couple.**

 **Guest 2: I should be thanking you for not only reading but taking the time to review my story.**

 **Guest 3: I'm glad you like it and that was the point I have to keep everyone interested even when I disappear for a little while. I'm not stopping for as long as I keep having ideas for this story. So keep reading.**

 **On to the next chapter!**

It was Friday night and just about everyone in the kingdom was at the party to celebrate Princess Holly's birthday. She was wearing a beautiful floor length dark blue ball gown. Hayden was in her dress uniform and she stayed behind Holly, but only barely. She was constantly within two steps of the princess. Elinath sat at a table with Thalin while he munched on the hors d'oeuvres that were going around. She watched her wife with a smile on her face. Hayden would occasionally glance over at her wife and son, but the looks were few and far between. Still Elinath couldn't help herself from admiring her wife in her dress uniform as she stood at attention behind the royal table with the rest of the guards or as she gracefully weaved through the crowd to keep Holly in sight and in arms reach.

"You're drooling" came a whisper of a playful voice. Elinath gave a quick look around the room. She knew Gail was there, and she knew she didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell at spotting her, but she looked around anyway. "You're not going to find me down there." The voice came again. Elinath's brow furrowed and she didn't even notice Thalin picking up yet another fruit tart that a waiter brought over. "Might want to keep an eye on that boy of yours." She looked over and Thalin gave her a sheepish smile. She smiled back, as long as he didn't go completely nuts she was happy to let him indulge a little bit. Just as long as he ate his dinner which if she knew her son he would. "Look up" Was the final whisper. She did as told and saw Gail standing on the support beam right over her head with a smirk. She put her finger to her lips then dropped a drop of water onto Thalin's head before ducking out of sight as his little head snapped up. His face scrunched up in confusion before he shrugged and focused back on his snack. Gail did this a couple more times each time confusing Thalin more and more. "Shouldn't you be guarding the princess and not tormenting my son?" Elinath whispered to Gail in amusement. "I'm insulted that you think I can't do both." And in fact she was. Every time she hid from Thalin's view her full attention was focused on Holly and the people around her. Finally she dropped one more drop on Thalin's head, but she took mercy on his this time and didn't hide away. The confusion on his face turned into a beaming smile and he waved to the blond using his whole arm. Gail smiled and waved back. "Alright I have to go. Enjoy the party and stay free because in about half an hour I'm going to drop down and make that wife of yours take a short break to dance with you. I have it all planned out and cleared with both the king and Holly and the other guards in the room so don't worry about anything." It had taken some convincing, but she had managed to swing Hayden five minutes to spend with her family.

Gail turned her focus back onto the crowd specifically Holly as she let her mind wander.

-Flashback-

 _"Let's take a break. Get some water we'll pick up in a little bit." Hayden suggested as she waved Gail over. Holly had barely sat down when the bushes next to them began to rustle. In seconds Gail stood in front of Holly with her swords drawn and Hayden was behind the princess with an arrow nocked and her bow string pulled back._

 _As the two warriors stood with their bodies tensed two people began to emerge from the bushes. The one in front saw the weapons aimed at them and screamed. Holly looked around Gail at the intruders and yelled, "wait stop, I know them. They're not a threat." Neither warrior budged. "If they're not a threat then why couldn't they come through the front door? Why are they sneaking in?" Gail asked. "This is how we would meet up when I wanted to sneak out for a little while. Stand down, that's an order." Holly said and watched the hurt flash through Gail's eyes before she schooled her features and they both put away their weapons._

 _"Lisa Rachel, what are you doing here?" She asked. Lisa and Rachel had been her friends forever. They grew up in the same neighborhood Lisa and Rachel's parents were doctors as had Brian before he was recruited into the army. "Oh come on as if we weren't going to come visit you during your imprisonment?" Rachel said as Lisa nodded beside her. "Besides I can only imagine how incredibly boring it must be to have to hang out with the hard-ass twins over there." Lisa said pointing to Hayden and Gail who were stood at attention off to the right of the group. Holly gave her a disapproving look. "What? You know they're beneath us. They're uneducated and let's be real the warriors around here are completely barbaric most of the time." Holly tried to get her to shut up when she saw the strain in Hayden and Gail's necks as they clenched their teeth to stop from yelling at Holly's friend. "Fine whatever, I'll stop talking about your little 'friends.' Anyway let's get out of here. It can't be that difficult to get passed tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber." Gail had apparently had enough because she stepped up. "You need to leave. The princess is not allowed to go anywhere without us so she's staying here." Lisa smirked at the blond. She pointed her finger at Gail with that horrible smirk and said, "You can't touch me." Gail looked her up and down. "You said your parents are doctors right?" Lisa's smirk faltered a little in her confusion, "yes." "Not lawyers?" Gail asked a smirk on her own face. "pfft no" and the smile on Gail's face grew as she reached over to grab Lisa's wrist and putting her arm behind her back. She didn't add any pressure so as not to hurt the girl, and she began to lead her through the palace towards the main entrance/ exit. Once she has left the girl outside she walks back to the gardens where Rachel is apologizing for Lisa and leaves through the bushes where she came in._

 _Gail has a satisfied smirk on her face and as she gets back to her position next to Hayden they share a secret high-five. Holly was so annoyed with her bodyguards. They tried to go back to practicing, but Holly was so angry with Gail that she couldn't even manage the mumbling anymore. They went inside after a little while and Holly refused to speak to either of them for the rest of the day and into the night. By the next morning she was fine and ignoring that the whole thing had happened. She wouldn't admit it but she was embarrassed by how she acted. She knew Gail was well within her rights to do what she had done and Lisa had been asking for it. Holly couldn't figure out why she had gotten so annoyed about it, and when she had calmed down she didn't want to talk about it because then she had to admit that she was wrong._

 _-End Flashback-_

Gail was still up in the rafters but she was silently making her way down. It was time to cash in and make Hayden go spend time with her family. She moved quickly through the crowd and was soon standing next to Hayden. "Go dance with your wife." She said. Hayden looked confused. King Brian turned to her, "all of my guards get a short break at these events to spend time with their families. That courtesy should get extended to Holly's guards as well." Hayden smiled "thank you sir." He smiled "it was all Gail." Hayden turned to thank Gail, but before she could say anything Gail cut her off "go." And so Hayden did.

Elinath was wiping Thalin's face from the sauce that was on it when she got there. "Excuse me, but a beautiful woman like you shouldn't be stuck at a table. I believe you need to be paraded around the dance floor a bit." Elinath smiled at her wife and took her outstretched hand. "Stay here little man." She told her son who nodded at her.

The two women danced close together. Elinath's head on Hayden's chest and Hayden's head tilted down so that she could look at her wife's face. They were in their own little world and everyone around them knew it. When the song ended they pulled apart. Hayden kissed her wife gently before they walked hand in hand back to their son. He was exactly where he was when she first got there. They spent a couple of minutes talking about which of the snacks was his favorite and Hayden made Thalin promise to dance with his other mother at least once. Then she had to go back to her post.

When she got back to her post Gail disappeared back into the rafters. To keep her mind occupied so she didn't get bored and lose focus she thought about what had happened the night before.

-Flashback-

 _Hayden had just left to go home for the night which left Gail and Holly to silently eat dinner together like they did every night. Afterwards Holly got a shower and got ready for bed while Gail did a quick sweep to secure the room. After that Holly would get in bed with a book and read until she fell asleep while Gail guarded the door. That had been their routine for the past couple of days. As Gail was leaving the room Holly spoke up, "I'm scared." Gail turned back to her "for tomorrow I mean."_

 _Gail moved back into the room and stood in front of Holly's bed. "You've been in public since this whole thing started." She tried to rationalize. "Yeah but since the attack it's only been for the run and at the warrior academy graduation. Nobody is stupid enough to attack with all of those warriors there." She said. Gail sat down on the edge of the bed and took Holly's hand in hers, "Hayden and I won't let anything happen to you." Holly looked her in the eyes, "I'm scared for you guys too! I don't want anything to happen to you two because of me." Gail shook her head. "Holly, Hayden and I are here to protect you no matter the cost because we believe in what you have done and what you continue to do."_

 _They were looking into each other's eyes and there was so much raw emotion there. Holly couldn't help herself so she leaned in and let her lip touch Gail's. Their eyes closed as their lips moved in sync with each other. They continued like that in a gentle kiss for a few minutes. It was Holly's hand making its way under Gail's shirt and the skin on skin contact that brought Gail back to the moment. She pulled away "I can't do this Holly; my job is to protect you. I can't get involved like this with you." Holly tried to speak, "but Gail-" She was cut off. "If I let myself feel the way I feel about you my performance will slip. I'll pay attention to you instead of our surroundings. When we're alone I'll be focused on being_ _ **with**_ _you and not on protecting you. If someone attacks I won't help Hayden, I'll get you out whether that's the right choice or not. I'm not willing to put any of us in that much danger." Holly nodded at the mini speech. She understood but that did not mean she liked it. She rolled onto her side so that she was facing away from Gail. The blond sighed and got up going to her chair outside the door._

 _-End Flashback-_

Holly had been dancing with various young men and women all night. Gail watches her a little too closely. She kicks herself, this was exactly what she was trying to avoid. She was imagining what it would be like to dance with Holly, to have the princess in her arms as the music flowed through them. She shook her head to rid herself of the images.

After a few more dances it was time for dinner. Of course Holly is served first, but she politely and respectfully waits for everyone else to have food before she begins eating. Just as Holly was cutting into her meat Gail noticed something. She jumped down from her perch, it was a long fall but she bent her knees and rolled diverting her momentum so she ended up with only a small twinge in her ankles. "Stop" she orders Holly who had been frozen since Gail had come crashing to the ground. Hayden stepped forward, all eyes were on them, "Gail what is it?" She asked a little uncomfortable with the attention. "Nobody else's plate has powdered whatever it's supposed to be on it." Holly spoke up then, "the kitchen adds garlic salt to my plate when they serve venison like this because they know I like it." Gail wasn't convinced, "are you willing to bet on that?" The question was directed to Hayden, but Holly answered anyway, "yes." Gail shrugged and said "OK" as she picked up Holly's fork and ate the piece of meat that was covered in "garlic salt" before anyone could protest. She was fine as she chewed and swallowed it. Just as Holly was about to say "see I told you" Gail looked Hayden in the eyes and said, "get her out." Her voice was strained and breathy as she collapsed to the ground having a seizure.

 **A/N: So there you go the next chapter. And if you believe that then I'm sorry. There is a little bit more to this chapter; so let's continue, please don't leave.**

Hayden was torn between grabbing Holly and running and going to help Gail. She saw a couple of other guards she knew and trusted run over to help Gail, so she grabbed Holly's wrist and began to lead her quickly out of the ballroom. They didn't stop until they were back in Holly's room. "We have to go back and help her!" Holly yelled trying to force her way back out of the room. "We can't, for now you are on lockdown. You'll stay in this room with me until I'm sure it's safe. And I will have final say over who visits you." Hayden said in a commanding voice. "What about Gail?" Holly asked with tears running down her cheeks. "I will have some of the other guards keep me updated on her condition. If all is well we can go visit her with a few other guards of course. Your meeting with the human king will be pushed back to whenever Gail is able to come back." Holly spoke in a small voice that Hayden almost didn't hear "what if she doesn't want to come back?" Hayden sighed. "She will, but until then no more events and especially no travelling." Holly nodded her agreement.

There was a knock on the door and Hayden went to answer it. She had her hand on her sword just in case. It was only the king though and she quickly let him in, but only him. He puts his hands on Holly's cheeks and checks her over for any injuries. When he was satisfied that she was fine he pulled her into a hug. They stood like that until there was another knock at the door. It was one of the guards with an update on Gail. Hayden let the man in. "It looks like the poison used was Iocaine powder, but in an impure form otherwise Gail would have been dead instantly. As of right now she is unconscious and they don't know when, or if, she'll wake up." After his update he was dismissed back to his duty of trying to find the person responsible for this.

Hayden stood uncomfortably in front of the king and princess. "This may be an overstep sir, but I would like to request that my family be brought here for a couple of days for their protection. Whoever did this saw me, and everyone around here knows me and my family. They could use that against me and ultimately Holly." The king smiles at the young warrior. He understands her worry and agrees to her request. Two of his most trusted guards are sent to fetch her family.

When they arrive they are brought straight to Holly's room. Elinath throws her arms around Hayden as soon as she sees her and Thalin wraps his little arms around their legs. The king clears his throat amused. Elinath pulls away from Hayden slightly embarrassed. "Your majesties this is my wife Elinath and our son Thalin." Elinath bowed and said, "It is an honor to meet you." "The pleasure is mine" Brian says. "I must go see how everything is going, but it really was lovely to meet you." He excused himself leaving the room.

"Where's Gail?" Thalin asked immediately. "She got a little hurt, so she's at the doctors right now. She'll come see you when she's all better, I promise." Hayden assured him. Hayden played with Thalin a little bit making sure to keep an eye on the window and door while Elinath and Holly talked. Thalin was quick to fall asleep so Hayden set him on the comfy chair that was in the room. It was big enough and he was small enough to sprawl out on it with no problem. The rest of them were unable to sleep so they stayed up talking and playing card games to pass the time.

The news arrived early the next morning with their breakfast. Hayden inspected everything carefully not wanting a repeat of last night. She even took small bites of everything to be absolutely certain. Of course that made Elinath and Holly very nervous, neither of them wanting anything to happen to Hayden. As soon as Hayden deemed everything safe Holly couldn't hold back any more, "How is Gail?!"

 **A/N: OK now the chapter is really over. And what a long chapter it was, LONGEST CHAPTER YET! I was going to end it earlier, but figured you guys deserved just a little bit more since you were such good sports about the wait. Same rule applies for this chapter mild insults are OK since I did try to trick you into thinking there would be a cliffhanger higher up in the story, and I did leave it on a cliffhanger as well. Anyone who can tell me where the reference for the poison comes from will get a shout out in the next chapter. Please don't forget to review, I love you all.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold The Line and Don't Look Back


	9. Visiting hours

**A/N: Hey everyone. I know I said I would try to have an update up last week, but time just got away from me. I'm packing up to go back to college, I actually leave on Monday. That means that the updates will be much more spaced out. At least for the next two weeks while my schedule is packed I won't be able to update. Hopefully I'll get a couple of chapters outlined, but definitely not fully written out.**

 **SHOUT OUTS:  
I promised shout outs to anyone who could tell me where the reference for the Iocaine powder came from. It comes from the book/movie The Princess Bride. So shoutout to ****_devil3567_** **and** ** _qbonbon_** **.**

 **Now some anonymous reviews then we can move on to the latest chapter.  
Turtle: I'm glad you're enjoying it. I appreciate you taking the time to review.  
Debby: You asked me to speed things up a little in an earlier review and I realized that you were right. There's a difference between keeping things slow to build the story and taking way too long to do anything. So thank you for the 1: I'm glad you're enjoying it despite the cliffhangers.  
Guest 2:I appreciate all of the nice things you had to say. I definitely will be continuing this story and it means a lot that you would tell me that you admire my continuation of this. Positive reviews like this make me feel so good about my writing.  
Guest 3: I think you might have misunderstood what I meant. The reference for the poison came from The Princess Bride.  
Turtle: Well I appreciate you not throwing out the mild insult that I would have deserved. FYI to you and anyone else reading this that offer still stands if I miss a update by an entire week. Or if I link up two or more chapters that end in cliff hangers. I'm glad you like the story, and I hope that doesn't change any time soon.**

 **On to the story:**

"How is Gail!?" Holly asked. She couldn't wait anymore to find out the fate of the woman who had put Holly's safety above her own. The guard turned to her and gave a short bow before standing straight up and speaking, "She is out of critical condition and getting stronger every minute, but she is still unconscious." Holly let out a sigh of relief. "Can we go see her?" She asked impatiently. Hayden contemplated for a few seconds then turned to the guard who was standing waiting for either further instructions or to be dismissed. "Get Traci, Andy, and Celeb. Tell them to get here right now. We leave in half an hour." (Celeb- means silver) Holly was so thankful that she almost hugged them, but managed to refrain.

Hayden walked further into the room after the other guard left. She walked straight over to her wife and took her hand. "Elinath I need you and Thalin to stay here. It's safer here and I don't want him to see Gail in the state that she'll be in." Elinath nodded in agreement, and they all sat down to eat breakfast. As they were finishing up there was a knock on the door. Hayden went and answered it to have three guards, two women and a man, enter. They dropped to a knee in a line just inside the door. Holly was immediately on her feet telling them to rise.

Once they were back on their feet they got ready to go. Hayden gave a small almost imperceptible nod to her wife, and they got into formation. It was a standard diamond formation with Holly well protected in the middle of the "pack." Hayden was stood at the head of the formation and Celeb at the back facing away from everyone else. He was protecting Holly from the back, but this formation showed the absolute trust he had in the rest of the guards. They were not taking any chances with Holly, not anymore.

They got to the hospital fairly quickly, for the absolute care that they were taking. When they got there the guards shifted, Traci left her position at Holly's left to go clear Gail's room to make sure nothing was waiting to hurt Holly inside. Hayden stayed where she was, but Andy and Celeb both shifted positions. Andy dropped back to be diagonally back from Holly's right side, and Celeb moved up to her left still facing away from her. None of them said anything they just automatically knew what they were supposed to do.

Traci came out of the room and gave the all clear, so they lead Holly in with Traci falling seamlessly back into her position. It amazed Holly just how smooth they could actually be. She stopped short when she saw Gail lying in the hospital bed. She was pale, covered in a layer of sweat, with a small bandage on the side of her forehead, and an IV with an antidote being pumped into her. Hayden stepped to the side to let Holly creep forward towards the bed. She put her hand over her mouth as tears filled her eyes. She moved to the chair on Gail's left side. She grabbed Gail's hand and held on tight. She looked silently at Gail as her other hand came up to the bandage on Gail's forehead. Before her hand touched the bandage she choked on a sob and used that hand to cover her mouth again instead.

She began to speak forgetting that the rest of the guards were there. "Gail, I am so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I would give anything for this not to be happening to you." She brushed some tears off her cheeks and continued. "The night before the ball I told you I didn't want anything to happen to you. I just had this terrible feeling that I couldn't shake, but you made me feel better and I forgot everything I was worried about. Then we kissed and I felt so free." Behind Gail Hayden's eyebrows raised almost all the way to her hairline. She wasn't aware of any kiss, she had her suspicions about the attraction Gail felt for Holly, but wasn't aware it had gone any further than that. She filed the topic away in the back of her mind to discuss with Gail when she got the chance. "Gail, I'm so scared. There are so many people here to protect me, but all of the guards in the kingdom were in that ballroom. They were all instructed to keep an eye on me whether they were on duty or not. But someone still managed to get through that security, and you're paying the price. I was arrogant about it. I was embarrassed that you stopped our kiss, so I didn't want you to be right. You need to wake up so that I can apologize and we can move on."

They sat in silence for over an hour before Holly felt Gail squeeze her hand. "She's waking up!" Holly said excitedly. Gail slowly blinked her eyes open. The bright lights burned her eyes, but eventually her eyes were fully open and looking around. Celeb left the room to find Gail's doctor. As Gail was looking around her eyes were noticeably unfocused, and as her eyes finally focused on the dresser with her uniform and weapons on it. All of a sudden she leaned over the right side of the bed and puked into the bucket that was waiting there. When she finished puking she leaned back on the bed a little too forcefully because she groaned and put a hand over the bandage on her head.

"That's some heavy shit. What was it?" Gail asked in a groggy voice. Honestly Holly found it kind of sexy. "Iocaine" Hayden said stepping up. Gail groaned again. "When are they gonna let me out of here? I hate this place." Hayden chuckled at her friend's misfortune. "Celeb went to get your doctor to come look you over now that you're finally awake." Hayden told her. "Yeah whatever, just admit that you missed me." Gail said arrogantly as she closed her eyes against the light that was hurting her eyes. "I did, we did; Gail you scared us." Gail waved her hand brushing off Hayden's concern.

Finally Celeb and the doctor came into the room. The doctor made them leave the room so she could talk to Gail privately. They sat in the waiting room for about a half hour when the doctor came out to get them. "One more night. I want to keep observing her overnight, then she can go home in the morning if she's still doing as well as she is now. That's all I can share with you." They thanked the doctor and went back into the room. They talked with Gail for a few more hours, but eventually Holly had to go back to the palace to keep up with her duties.

Hayden instructs Holly to go back with Traci, Andy, and Celeb. She assured Holly that she would stay with Gail for as long as she could, but Holly had to promise to stay with the other three no matter what. Holly didn't like it at first, she knew it was because she wanted to spend more time with Gail but it was also a bad idea, but eventually she agreed as long as she got a status update as soon as she got back.

When everyone else was gone Hayden and Gail were sitting making small talk, kind of awkward for the outside observer. "I heard that Elaine hasn't been to visit you." Hayden said. She figured this was a good time to find out a little more about her partner who had quickly become her friend. "Nope" Gail said nonchalantly. "I understand your dad can't come out because of his injury, so that I understand. But I can't imagine a mother not coming to visit her daughter who almost died." Hayden spoke softly. She truly was confused. She couldn't imagine Thalin getting hurt and not being at his side every moment. "Well then, it's a good thing Elaine isn't my mother." Hayden was shocked. "What? But-" Gail cut her off. "She's married to my dad, she's Steve's mother, but she's not my mother." Now Hayden was really confused. "I don't understand Gail." Gail sighed resigning herself to tell the whole story. "My dad had a very short lived affair with a human. By the time Elaine found out my mother was already pregnant with me, so they waited. After I was born they took me away from her. I don't know her name, or what she looks like, or even if she's still alive. One day I want to find her." Hayden was shocked so all she could let out was a small "wow." Gail nodded. "It's why I have human style tattoos designed and done by a human. They remind me of who I am." Gail said moving the collar of the shirt she was in so they could see the parts of the tattoos that wrap around her shoulders and to her collar bone. "When this assignment is over and Holly is safe again I'll help you find her." Hayden told her taking Gail's hand. "Thank you" Gail said squeezing Hayden's hand. "Don't thank me, you deserve to know who your mother is and get the chance to know her." Gail smiled her thanks, but it was broken by a large yawn.

Hayden chuckled "sleep now, we have a bigger discussion to have tomorrow." Gail gave her a confused, but sleepy look. "You and Holly?" Hayden asked. Gail's eyes widened unsure how Hayden found out. She'd been so careful. "Don't worry about it right now. Sleep, I'm going to go back to the palace and update Holly. I'll spend some time there and see if they have any leads on what happened to you. We will talk about this when I come back tomorrow to pick you up." Hayden said. Gail nodded and fell asleep.

 **A/N: Well there it is. A week late, but better late than never right? I know it was short, and I'm very sorry about that. But honestly with getting ready to go back to school I haven't had the motivation to write for the last couple of weeks. I'm sorry if it's shitty, but it will get better, I hope. Please leave a review letting me know what you thought. If you have any ideas about what should happen in this story please feel free to message me or leave it in a review. I don't really have much elso to say, so I'll see you next time,  
** Hold The Line and Don't Look Back


	10. Getting out

**A/N: Hey everyone, it's been quite a while hasn't it? Sorry about that. I'm back at school and the work load this semester has been bigger than I had thought it would be. Thankfully it's dying down for the time being and I have time to write. I think y'all have waited long enough so let me answer some questions and we'll dive right in.**

 **Debby: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Thanks for the well wishes, and I'm back now so I hope to update more frequently again.  
Guest 1: You're welcome  
Guest 2: I'm glad you like it, and I hope this chapter is up to your standard.  
Callie: I'm sorry you missed me, but I'm here now .I'm going to try to stay on a more consistent schedule now that I've got time to write again.**

Gail woke up the next morning and looked over to see Hayden "reading" a book. Gail knew she wasn't really reading, but anybody looking into the room wouldn't be able to tell. Gail shifted in the bed attempting to sit up. Hayden put down the book and moved to help Gail by stacking a few of the pillows behind her back to keep her upright. "Feeling better today?" Hayden asked. Gail nodded, "When can I go home and get back to work?" Hayden chuckled, of course that would be all Gail was concerned about. "The docs want to release you soon as long as you have someone to stay with until they let you go back to work next week." Gail visibly deflated. She would have to suck up her pride and go stay with her dad and Elaine. That didn't sound like a good option, but she would do anything to get out of the hospital.

"It's really not that long Gail, especially considering what you went through, and you need to get better or you won't be able to protect Holly." Gail nodded. "Yeah I know, it's just- well I just don't want to spend a week with Elaine breathing down my neck is all. But I'll do what I have to do to get back to work." Hayden finally understood why Gail was so upset about this. "You know what? Elinath and I would be honored if you would stay the week in our home." Gail looked about to protest when Hayden spoke up again, "Don't make me bring Thalin down here to convince you." Gail smiled. "You would really use your son to manipulate me?" She asked already knowing the answer. "Of course I would. I know you can't say no to him, especially when he starts pouting." "Well then I appreciate the offer and would love to stay with your family." Hayden nodded with a proud smile on her face.

"One more thing Gail." Hayden said suddenly getting serious and a little bit nervous. Gail gave her s reserved look. "Holly mentioned something about a kiss. I don't think she remembered that all of us were in here. I need to know what happened. This puts all three of us at risk if you two are getting involved." Gail sighed. "We were taking the night before the party. She was scared of getting hurt or of someone else getting hurt. I told her that we would protect her, and we would do it without question, because we believe in what she has been doing. I told her that she inspires the people. She kissed me, and I told her that it couldn't happen again." There was a pain in her voice, but Hayden chose to ignore it. She would trust that Gail wouldn't put Holly or her in any unnecessary danger. She just had to ask one more question. "It can't happen again while you're on this assignment, but do you want it to?" Gail didn't answer, but her silence and the way she wouldn't meet Hayden's eyes told the brunette everything she needed to know.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Gail's doctor walked in. They discussed the medicine Gail would need to take and how she should progress back to work. Gail honestly wasn't paying too much attention. She was more preoccupied with getting out. Hayden on the other hand was listening to every word the doctor said and memorizing every instruction so that she could relay them to Elinath. "Alright Gail, you're free to go-" The doctor didn't get to finish his sentence because Gail jumped up and out of her bed. She swayed a bit putting her hand out on the bed to stabilize herself. "Woah, that's quite the head rush." She mumbled. Hayden moved to help her, but Gail brushed her off. "I'm good, I got this." She stood up straight and began to walk, slowly and shakily, across the room. They got out of the hospital and Hayden escorted Gail to her house. On the way there Hayden, at Gail's request, caught Gail up on what had been happening at the palace since she had been in the hospital.

Guards had been put on extra shifts so there was more security in the palace. The problem was that they were all tired. "Hayden I hate to say this, but do you think we should be looking at an internal threat?" Gail asked. "I don't know Gail, it's a possibility. Definitely worth looking into. Should I be looking for anything specific before you get back?" Gail had grown up around all of this, so she had more effective methods. Hayden was definitely willing to get her opinion on what they should do. Especially since this kind of thing wasn't a huge topic to be covered in the academy. "Look for someone who despite being tired is still looking to pick up more shifts. Someone who is requesting, insisting even, to guard either the king or Holly. Make a list of everyone who is requesting those details and a list of everyone requesting extra shifts. We'll cross those lists together to see about any overlap when I get back, and we'll go from there." Hayden nodded.

Finally they arrived at the house and Thalin came tearing out the front door. Hayden stepped up and caught him before he could run into Gail. "Remember Buddy, Gail is hurt so you can't be too rough with her for a few days." She said. Thalin hung his head a little, he hadn't meant to hurt Gail he just got excited and forgot. Gail stepped forward. She gave Hayden a backhanded tap on the shoulder. "Don't be such a hard-ass Hay." She said lightheartedly. Then she picked up Thalin, ignoring the twinge it caused across her stomach area, and threw/ swung her arms and semi-gently placed him on the ground and began to tickle him mercilessly.

Hayden stood from the ground and walked over to her wife who was watching Gail and Thalin play with a smile. "He's getting attached to her, it's cute." Hayden said wrapping an arm around Elinath's waist. "I think we all are." Elinath countered. Hayden squeezed her wife in a silent agreement.

Gail had Thalin in an uncontrollable giggle fit. "Stop Gail!" He yelled giggling. "Say the magic word!" She joked. "I'm gonna pee!" Gail immediately pulled away. He jumped up, "that always works on Mom!" Then he tackled Gail back. She groaned lightly. "Did I hurt you?" He asked full of concern. The answer was yes, but how could she say that to the already guilty look on his face. "Nah Buddy, you just gotta remember I'm old so I can't always move as fast as you." That cheered him up as he let out a giggle and agreed that Gail was old.

Elinath stepped in to stop any further rough housing, "Thalin, Gail, go wash up for dinner." At the mention of food the two took off running. They raced to the sink, as if being the first one washed up would somehow get them food faster. Elinath shook her head at their antics. "I think we've adopted another child." Hayden said. Gail heard her and turned. She gave a quick look to make sure Thalin wasn't looking before flipping Hayden off. Hayden chuckled shaking her head.

They sat down at the table and everyone waited patiently for Elinath to serve food onto her own plate first before they reached for food themselves, Gail helping Thalin. Then they allowed Elinath to take the first bite before they dug in. This was a major sign of respect and gratitude towards the matriarchal figure. It was a common practice, especially in Nimrais, to allow the matriarchal figure to lead everyone through dinner. Nobody touched the food until the matriarch did, nobody ate until the matriarch got the first bite, and definitely nobody got up from the table without the matriarch's permission.

By the time they finished dinner Thalin was already falling asleep. "Alright Little Man, it's time for bed." Elinath announced. He nodded sleepily. "Gail will you come read me a story?" The blond smiled down at the tired boy and nodded. "Go on up and get ready for bed and choose a story and I'll be up in a minute." He nodded and moved upstairs.

"I want to thank you for letting me stay here with you. It truly means a lot to me. If you want me to leave at any time just let me know and-" Elinath cut her off with a hug. "Go read to him and stop worrying about whether or not you're welcome here. You will always be welcome here." Gail smiled. She'd never felt this accepted by anyone.

She went upstairs and found Thalin in his bed with a book called _The Littlest Warrior_ on his lap. She climbed on the bed next to him. He leaned into her and she wrapped an arm around him. As she began to read she realized just how tired she really was. By the middle of the book both Gail and Thalin were out cold. They laid there the book open on Gail's lap, her head leaned back against the wall, and her left arm around Thalin whose head was on her shoulder.

That was how Elinath and Hayden found them an hour later when they went up to check on the two. They decided to leave them there after taking the book off Gail's lap, they seemed comfortable enough and it was an adorable moment that neither woman wanted to ruin.

So the two went to bed and fell asleep with Hayden holding Elinath close.

 **A/N: So what do you think? Worth the wait? If not I'm sorry. I haven't started working on the next chapter yet, but I will start is probably tomorrow at some point. As always please leave a review and let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions or anything you want to see feel free to let me know in a review or drop me a PM. I think that's all I have to say for this update, so...  
Until next time,  
**Hold The Line and Don't Look Back


	11. The Worst Week Ever

**A/N: Hey everyone who is still reading this story. I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I got back to school and between classes and soccer practices I had no free time. I thought I would, but I ended up spending more time practicing and hanging out with my girlfriend than I expected. To make up for that I am going to try to try to get in another update before new years. Then one more before I go back to school the week after that. Hopefully this coming semester will be easier and I'll have more time to update. Fingers crossed, and happy holidays to all.**

It was a rough week for Gail. She expected to coast through her recovery, get in some training during the week off so she didn't slow down. That's not what happened at all though.

After playing so rough with Thalin the first day Gail was beyond sore. So sore that when Thalin came jumping on her bed early the next morning to wake her up she raised her voice at him. He left the room quickly and quietly. She felt horrible, but when  
she tried to get up it caused an excruciating pain through her entire upper body. She grit her teeth but couldn't fully stop the groan from slipping out. Elinath walked in with a tray of breakfast. "How bad is it?" She asked in a kind voice. Gail  
gave her a small head shake. "It's not that bad" She tried to deny. Elinath smiled "well for what it's worth Thalin is very sorry for hurting you." Gail dropped her head in guilt. "I'm so sorry for snapping at him Elinath. I don't even really know  
what happened. One minute he was jumping and then-" The other woman cut her off. "Gail it's OK. I'll let him know you're not mad at him, but you didn't do anything wrong either. Let me help you sit up and you can eat. I'll come back and see if you  
need anything when I get back from taking Thalin to school." Gail nodded and thanked the woman as she helped her sit up comfortably and then left. Gail ate and fell asleep before Elinath got back. She slept through the rest of the day and night only  
waking up for short periods of time to eat and take medicine.

The second day was much better. She was still sore, but she had more strength. She was able to get out of her bed and make it to the couch in the living room. She played with Thalin and some of his action figures until he had to go to school. He gave  
her a big hug and an enthusiastic wave on his way out. When Elinath got back she made tea and they sat on the couch talking and getting to know each other. "I have to know how you and Hayden ended up together. I mean you're Very different yet you  
work so well together." Elinath chuckled lightly. "We were neighbors as children. We used to do everything together. Honestly I'd always had a little crush on her, but she didn't seem to see me as anything more than one of her friends. As we grew  
up we began to have different hobbies. She played sports and was all about training to go to the academy, and we had a fight about the violence of the military. We stopped talking for a long time. She joined the military and I got married." Gail was  
surprised at this revelation. "About a year later she came home to visit her parents and prove to me how successful she had been. She stopped by visit my husband and I and when she knocked on the door nobody answered. So she looked through the front  
window and saw my husband hitting me. She stormed through the the door and told him to stop. He smirked at her and said, 'or what?' And she kicked his ass for me. She apologized for the fight that we had and I cried. She held me for hours just letting  
me cry on her uniform. I know she caught hell for it when she went back to training, but she never mentioned it to me. We started dating as soon as my divorce was final which wasn't long considering he was in prison. Five months later Thalin was born.  
She was there for me every step of the way, and by the time she proposed there was not a chance that I was going to say no. She has protected me every day since then and I know she always will. We're different, but we complement each other." Gail  
didn't really know what to say. So they sat in silence for a moment before picking up the conversation on a different topic. Gail got plenty of embarrassing Hayden stories that she would be locking away for a time when they were completely necessary.  
That night when Hayden came home for dinner she ran Gail through the new guard rotations. They were ampingup security on the king and her replacement guard was on a shift rotation. Hayden said it was so that nobody else's schedules got messed  
up. To Gail it all seemed like a huge mess that could easily be manipulated. "Hayden can you make me a list of everyone who rotates through my position, anyone who volunteers for guard duty for Holly or the king, anyone who volunteers for extra duties,  
and everyone who actually gets approved for extra duties over the next couple of days. Keep the lists separate. I have a bad feeling that this whole set up is a trap to try to manipulate someone on the inside into the king's good graces so that they'll  
get more responsibilities and have better opportunities at Holly." Hayden had never thought of it that way. Sure she thought the system was weirdly set up, but she didn't think the same way Gail does. That's why Gail needed to come back to work ASAP.  
She promised to bring her a list every day of the people she wanted.

The third day was much the same as the second, but this time it was Gail's turn to bear her secrets. The funny thing was that she wasn't nervous about it at all shetrusted Elinath, in fact she trusted the whole family more than if they were her  
own family. She found herself telling Elinath about how her parents dropped her off at the academy when she was young and she was raised there by the instructors. She didn't know anything else. She couldn't bring herself to voluntarily tell her about  
her mother and Elaine though. If she had asked maybe Gail would've shared, but she didn't ask so itdoesn't matter.

Finally by the fourth day she was feeling strong. She got up before even Thalin and got ready to go for a run. The first time she had voluntarily run in a long time. She ran as far and as long as she possibly could. Maybe that wasn't the best idea, but  
she had to know her limits so that she could push them tomorrow. When she returned to the house Thalin was up and playing with his toys all on his own, but he looked bored. "What's the matter buddy?" She asked. "It's not the same by myself, but you're  
back now so you can play now too!" He was so excited that even though she wanted to shower she couldn't say no. The action figures were locked in a great battle with no end in sight. Of course Elinath knew exactly how to bring about the end of his  
great battle, "breakfast is ready!" She called. The two dropped the toys and ran into the kitchen to make their plates. "Just so you know, I was totally kicking your butt." Thalin informed. Boy did that start an argument. They argued strategy and  
technique until they were blue in the face. Forks and spoons being used as demonstration tools. Finally the argument ended when Thalin went off to school. Of course once there he would brag about how his "army" was totally about to crush the "army"  
of a well-seasoned warrior.

Once he was gone Gail had the time to check over the list that Hayden had given her. She starred anyone whose name showed up on more than one list. And she checked anyone who had legit business being a guard ofthe crown, like for example Hayden  
had put herself on the list, but she also checked anyone who had been a regular guard of the king. She circled anyone who would have the ability to actually protect anyone from an attack, like Traci and Nick. Finally she put a question mark next to  
anyone who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag and would've had to get special permission to request the detail let alone actually work it, people like Dov who was much better from a distance than in close combat or Duncan who only graduated  
the academy because his dad worked with Elaine and had pull. She looked over the lists at the names she hadn't marked. There were less than a handful. She put them in a list all their own. She would check for their names to appear on any lists that  
she would get in the future, but for now she had no reason to suspect them of anything. From the lists that she had she began to consider every person trying to decide if she thought they were capable of treason in the form of assassinating theprincess.  
The problem with that theory was that she didn't know most of them all that well so she couldn't fairly make that decision. Huffing she resigned herself to talk to Hayden about them when she got there because Hayden was way more personable than Gail.  
Hayden at her worst was still at least four times better than Gail at her best when it came to dealing with people. Instead she filled her afternoon by coming up with a solution to the messy system that she could, hopefully, pitch to the king and  
his assistant when she returned to work. That night she and Hayden made a small amount of progress on the lists, but not much. Neither of them felt comfortable ruling people out based on their personal opinion of them.

The last few days of the week. Were spent training harder than before. She pushed herself often working out to the point of almost passing out. She had Thalin'shelp when he got back from school. She would take him on runs on her back. He would count  
the number of times he heard her footsteps or how many times the branches wobbled under her feet. He took great pride in making her do five pushups for every time either one happened.

Finally it was time for her final doctor's appointment. Since it was a weekend which meant no school Thalin was left with a babysitter so Elinath could support Gail. They sat in the waiting room with Gail bouncing her leg. "Relax" Elinath said putting  
her hand on Gail's knee to stop the bouncing. Gail looked at her. "I'm nervous, what if they decide not to let me to go back. To work?" Elinath chuckled. "Then you stay with us for a few extra days and continue to get better." Gail nodded that helped  
a lot. She was still nervous, sitting in the chair bouncing her leg until the nurse called her back.

She was taken to one of the exam rooms where she was put through the usual tests, blood pressure, height, weight, and reflexes. The nurse told her that the doctor would be with her in a minute, liar. It was almost an hour later that the doctor came in.  
Gail was playing with one of the gloves, she had blown it up and was in the process of making a face on it with a marker that she had found in her search of the cabinets. The doctor chuckled at her antics, but stopped quickly at the glare she sent  
him. He looked over her charts and said, "OK, I want to put you through a couple of stress tests to see where you're at then we can come back here and talk about any concerns you may have. Gail didn't say anything she just nodded. She was lead into  
another room set up with all kinds of rehab equipment.

They started her off with a two mile run. They told her to go as fast as possible, so Gail set off running. Halfway through the doctors told her to speed up if she could, and she did. She finished the two miles in under twelve minutes. She was breathing  
heavy, but not totally dying. So they took her across the room to a weight bench. They took her bench and squat maxes and put her through a few ab exercises. "This is beyond stupid. This isn't the gym, I'm not here to get a workout." She thought to  
herself, but kept her mouth shut. They took her vitals, and then to finish they gave her a practice sword, blunt and heavier than an official sword. She sparred with one of the physical therapists for five minutes then had her vitals checked again.

She was led back to the exam room to wait once again for the doctor to come back. Finally he came back in. "I must say you are in remarkable shape, especially for someone who was poisoned just a week ago. We are a little concerned about the fact that  
you lost a few pounds since the incident. It isn't a significant amount, just eat a little bit more at each meal until you're back to your original weight." Gail nodded along. She would be happy to eat all day long. "Great then if that's all you can  
just sign that little piece of paper letting me go back to work." She said beginning to get off the table. "Not so fast," the doctor said. "Of course, it couldn't be that easy." She muttered under her breath. "Your blood pressure is a little higher  
than we would like, but I still want you to make an appointment to check in with me in a couple of weeks." Gail didn't like that. "And if I don't want to?" He smiled. "Then I just won't sign the paper until after you check back in." Gail glared at  
the smug man. "Fine" she ground out through her teeth. He handed over a note that would allow her to go back to work at the beginning of next week.

Gail took the note and ran out to the waiting room, stopping to make her next appointment, and went straight over to Elinath. "I get to go back to work!" She announced. Elinath stood up and gave her a very excited hug.

 **A/N: I hope you liked it. I wrote this on my phone so I apologize for any mistakes.I'm about to go work on the next chapter so that I can have it ready in time. I hope all of you can forgive me for not updating in months. I promised myself I wouldn't do that, and yet here I am. Again I'm so sorry. See you soon, I promise.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	12. First Day Back and Making Plans

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm a day early in my update. It is midnight and I have to be awake again in five hours. So I apologize for any mistakes, and if it seems like a rush job near the end, because it kind of is. I love all of you, and I realized that I forgot to answer my anonymous reviews in the last chapter. Because of how late it is right now I am not going to do that for this chapter either. I will be doing three chapters worth of anon answers in the next chapter. So if I haven't gotten to you yet I am sorry I have not forgotten you I will get to you. To the anon who brought to my attention the formatting error in the last chapter thank you. It is because I wrote and uploaded the last chapter from my phone. I will fix it as soon as I get the chance. Anyway I hope you like this chapter... and yeah,**

 **Onto the next chapter!**

Gail quickly got dressed in the clothes that she had taken such care in picking out the night before. Did it really matter? Absolutely. She had decided in her week off that she didn't care so much about the rules. Holly wanted her and she was starting to realize just how much she wanted Holly as well. After their trip to meet with the human king hopefully Hayden and her services wouldn't be as necessary anyway. All she had to do was hold out for another week at most. She could do that, but there was no rule that she couldn't tease Holly in the process. Which brings her back to her outfit choice. The shirt was 3/4 sleeves and hugged tightly to her biceps and the pants also 3/4 length hugged her legs, especially her hips and ass, perfectly. There was no way, if Holly felt the way Gail thinks she does, that Holly wouldn't be drooling over Gail in these clothes.

Gail swaggered into the castle for her shift earlier than she needed to be there. She walked straight to Holly's door where she found Hayden sitting in a chair facing the door. She snuck up on the brunette, and grabbed her shoulders giving her a shake and shouting "Oh God, we're under attack." Hayden jumped to her feet and got into a defensive stance. Then she saw that it was Gail so she stood up straight with a chuckle. She reached out to smack Gail for scaring her, but Gail blocked it. "Ooh someone is back and ready to go." Gail smirked. "That's right, I'm so ready to kick your ass." They began to shuffle around each other and shadow box. It was going fine until Gail accidentally pushed Hayden too hard and she fell into Holly's door. Immediately they stood up tall as they heard Holly jump out of bed. They stood at attention as Holly came to the door and opened it cautiously peeking her head out. She had expected to see Hayden locked in some kind of fight. Honestly she had no idea what she thought she would be able to do to help, up she couldn't stop herself from checking. Thankfully there was no fight. Instead she saw her two bodyguards standing straight up at attention. When her eyes caught on Gail her instincts took over and she threw herself into Gail's arms. Gail stumbled back half a step, but remained upright and wrapped her own arms around Holly. They stood like that with Holly's head tucked into Gail's neck longer than was appropriate. Hayden cleared her threat and the two jumped apart causing Hayden to shake her head. Holly looked Gail over noticing the way that the clothing clung to the blond and fell into a fantasy. Gail noticed this and smirked realizing her plan had worked.

"What do we have today Princess?" She asked bringing the two back to the present. Holly coughed a little embarrassed by her lack of control. "I have my usual beginning of the week meeting with my father and his assistant to discuss my duties for the week. I will be requesting that the three of us leave for the human kingdom in a few days as long as I have nothing important scheduled for the end of the week. My father has also requested that the two of you sit in on this meeting today. I don't know why, but he does." The two were apprehensive. What could the king possibly want them in this meeting for? Were they in trouble for something? It was Gail's first day back, she couldn't possibly be in trouble already… right?

Despite their nerves they did as they were requested and filed into the meeting room behind Holly. They stood at attention just inside the door waiting for instructions. They did not have to wait long. "Abigail and Hayden, I am glad that you could attend this meeting." Brian began. Gail barely held in her scoff, _as if we had a choice_ , she thought to herself. "Gail, this is your first day back on duty after what happened, and I would like to welcome you back and tell you how grateful I am for what you did for my daughter." Gail did not move. She did not know if she was supposed to nod or say anything. It didn't matter because King Brian continued without any hesitation, "However, as you can imagine I am a little nervous about bringing you back. I would like to see for myself that you are back in top form. I have brought Adilya **(Justice)** here today. She is one of the academy's top fighters and I would like you to spar with her. Afterwards she will tell me if you have slowed down any. From what I've heard you and she are quite close." That was an understatement. Adilya had practically raised Gail. She had been a recent graduate when Gail was first dropped off at the academy when she was just a year old. Adilya had offered to take care of her until her training could begin. Then when Gail started training Adilya was there to help her. By the time Gail was fully enrolled in the academy it was Adilya who pushed her to her limits, and in many cases passed her limits. The woman knew her and her fighting style very well. After she had graduated was when she was taken under Oliver's wing. He treated her more like a daughter while Adilya had treated her as an apprentice. The latter opting to put her through drills and never letting her slack off while the former allowed her a place of solitude where she could do as she pleased, and she never felt like she had to be anything except Gail. Don't get her wrong, she cared for Adilya and deeply respected the woman, but she loved Oliver with every part of her being, in a father/daughter way obviously.

Gail stepped forward into the make shift ring and was joined there by her trainer moments later. They started circling each other each trying to find an opening to take advantage of. Gail struck first landing a decent blow to Adilya's jaw. They traded blows for almost two minutes before either of them found any sort of opening. Gail noticed that her mentor would lift her chin just slightly before she punched. Gail waited for that movement and when it came she braced herself. As the punch came at her she turned while reaching out and grabbing Adilya's outstretched wrist. She continued to turn and pull throwing her opponent off balance. She used that to reach around with her other arm and throw the woman over her hip and onto her back on the ground. She was quick to wrap her legs perfectly around Adilya's arm and she sat down leaning back trapping Adilya in a perfect arm bar. The other woman instantly tapped out of the fight having no other choice if she wanted to keep her arm in one piece.

The two stood up turned and bowed to the king. "That was very well done Abigail, if you and Hayden could just step outside and allow me to talk to Adilya in private." That was not a request or an invitation, it was most definitely an order.

The two stepped out and Gail immediately began to grumble about the situation. "See if I've lost a step. Pfft yeah right. As if I would come back if I thought I had slowed down. Does he think I've been sitting on my ass for the last week? Besides I was cleared by the doctor who made me spar and run and all that shit. What is this-" Hayden cut her off in a gentle tone. "Come on Gail, you know it's nothing personal. He's trying to make sure Holly is as safe as possible. You should have been dead after what you went through. Of course he's going to be nervous that you aren't at the same level. You would do the same thing if you weren't the one who got hurt." Gail grumbled under her breath. She knew Hayden was right, but that did not mean she had to like it.

Adilya opened the door and walked passed them. She turned to Gail and said, "You continue to improve and impress me little one. Good job." Then she walked away before Gail could respond. She did not say that they were invited back into the meeting so they stood outside of the door in a slightly relaxed stance with their feet shoulder width apart and their hands behind their backs. They stayed like that until Holly came out and they snapped to attention. "You guys can come back in now." She said gently. They gave a single nod before they walked in and resumed their attention stances just inside the door. "At ease ladies." Brian said and they went back to their resting stance. "Holly tells me that you are prepared to leave for the human kingdom in a few days' time. The human king has requested a presentation of our soldiers, so that he can see for himself the strength and discipline that our warriors possess. We have two options for that. I can send you with two other warriors who can be presented and tested. Or the two of you can escort Holly and be presented to the king. Which do you two prefer?" They looked at each other briefly and came to a silent decision. Hayden spoke up first, "We believe it would be easier to protect the princess if it was just the two of us. We are also both more than willing to do whatever the king wants us to do to prove the strength of your warriors." Brian nodded. "May I ask why you have chosen this?" This time it was Gail's turn to answer, "Sir, my job is stealth. The less people I have to hide the easier it will be. It is also easier to cover the tracks of three people as opposed to five." Hayden jumped in, "When tracking and charting our course we will be able to move quicker with less people. We will also be able to travel mostly through the forest avoiding villages where we can." Brian agreed whole heartedly, but this was his baby girl after all. She was all he had left. "You will make sure that she is safe and returns?" He asked. His vulnerability and nervousness showing just a little bit. "Yes sir." The two women said at the same time. Their confidence gave Brian peace of mind and he dismissed the meeting.

That day was spent with Gail and Hayden plotting the best route to be taken. Holly was going over some paperwork that would need to be perfectly in order when they arrived at the king's quarters. Gail and Hayden agreed pretty easily on a route there, but they had different ideas for the trip back. Gail wanted to continue to stick to forest paths and avoid villages. Hayden was adamant that they would need to stock up on supplies after their initial journey so she plotted for them to go through a couple of villages. The last village was only a few miles from the Nimrais border. In the end Hayden won the argument since tracking and navigating were her specialties.

The two warriors were given the next day off to say goodbye to their loved ones. Traci and Andy were being assigned to guard Holly for the day. They took the day off, but also had Traci checking in with one of them every hour at least.

They went to the park with Thalin and Elinath and spent the day playing around. Gail felt like part of the family as they played games and had a picnic.

Unfortunately all things come to an end and before they knew it, or would have liked, it was time for them to head back to the castle and make the final preparations for their journey.

 **A/N: So what do you think? I know the end was very abrupt and rushed. I might change it in the future, but for now this is all I could come up with. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think. Happy New Year.**

 **Until next Time  
** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	13. On the Trail We Blaze

**A/N: Hey y'all! So obviously I didn't get the last chapter that I wanted to upload during my break up. Things with my family just got crazy, and I am dealing with some new medical issues and it just didn't happen. Now that I am back at school I am trying to make it my goal to upload a chapter at least once a month. Depending on my workload they may be shorter than they have been up to this point, but I want to put out chapters that I am proud of and if that means they have to be short then they will be. Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me through all of this, and if you can just stick by me until April/May then I'll be out of school for the summer and have more time to write. On a cheerier note my coach just had a baby and guess what her name is... Hayden. Haha how cool is that? Anyway I have quite a few anonymous reviews to answer then we can get to the story:**

 **Chapter 10:Tinq: I know right? I kind of modeled their relationship off of my best friend and me, but of course I added my own fictional twist.  
Chapter 11:  
Guest 1: I should be the one saying the thanks for sticking with me through everything. Seasons greetings to you as well even though I'm a little late.  
Guest 2: Thanks for the review it means a lot to know that people are still excited about my writing. Thank you also for letting me know about the weird format of the chapter. I went in and tried to fix it I hope it worked.  
Chapter 12:  
Guest 1: I've said it over and over but it's not me that should be getting thanked it's you and everyone else reading and reviewing. I'm glad you liked the story even though I rushed the ending just a 2: There is a little bit of Gail and Holly in this chapter, but there won't be much more development between them in the next couple chapters unless I get a real inspiration for it. But hold tight it is coming.  
Guest 3: Well I really appreciate the praise. And one more time thank you for reading and reviewing.**

 **And now, finally, on to the chapter...**

The two warriors got to the castle, a small backpack holding some food, a sleeping bag, and their dress uniforms. When they got to Holly's room she was packing her third bag. "Princess, you cannot bring all of those bags." Hayden said. Holly looked at them as if they had just kicked a puppy. "Why not?" She demanded. "It cannot easily and stealthily be carried." Gail said. "One backpack that is what we can allow you. It can be as full as you can get it, but anything you cannot fit does not go." She finished. Holly glared slightly. Then she huffed and turned back to her bags. She began to go through everything and sort it into two piles, stay and take. "I need a backpack." She grumbled when she finished sorting. Hayden reached into her bag and pulled another backpack out. At Gail's look she simply said, "I had a feeling." When Holly had finally squeezed the last of her stuff into the bag she held it up.

"One of us will carry it. You need to be able to keep up." Hayden said taking the bag and holding it out to Gail. Holly looked slightly offended at the insinuation that she wouldn't be able to keep up, but chose to keep her mouth shut about it. "Lazy ass" the blond grumbled taking the bag and putting it over her own. They were all set so they bid a quick goodbye to the king and they were off.

Holly and Hayden were walking next to each other on the ground. Gail was a little ways ahead in the trees. She wasn't far enough ahead that she couldn't see them and turn and help if they needed it, but she was far enough away that she could see significant area in front of them, and she was high enough that she could see far on each side. Best of all she was far enough away that she couldn't hear what the two on the ground were saying.

"So what's going on with you and Gail?" Hayden asked. Holly was shocked and almost tripped. Luckily Hayden was expecting that so her arm shot out and she managed to catch Holly. "W-what? She's my guard, and uh maybe my friend, but I don't really know about that last part." Holly couldn't meet Hayden's eyes. The warrior snorted. "Forgive me Princess, but bullshit. There is nothing platonic about the way you two look at each other. She told me about the kiss before the ball." Holly blushed. "It was a mistake…" Still no eye contact. "… She was supportive and I took it the wrong way. She gently explained to me that she didn't feel the same and why it couldn't happen even if she did." Hayden chuckled at her words. "Princess, that blond is lying through her teeth. She feels the exact same way about you. She was raised in the academy, and has been taught for her entire life that love is weakness. She didn't get the chance to grow up like you and me. She's been prepped for a situation like what she's been doing for the last few weeks. Her loyalty lies, for now, with other warriors and protecting her charge." Holly nodded resigning herself to that fact. "I think you can change her. I think you can be the one to prove to her that there's more to life." Holly's head snapped around. "So you believe that it's worth the risk?" Hayden smiled gently. "Let's put it this way, I would be nothing without my wife and son, and whether she likes it or not Gail has become a part of my family." Holly thought for a minute while they walked in silence. "Would you help me? She opens up to you more, and I don't want to mess up." Hayden smiled and agreed. "If it makes her happy, which I know you do, and stops her from taking stupid risks, and I hope it will, then I'm in." They shook hands quickly.

"Hold up, there's a building not on the map up ahead. Stay here I'm going to check it out." Gail whispered through the wind to them. Hayden immediately stopped Holly and pulled her off the path they had been on and into a decent hiding spot. If someone was looking they'd be found in a minute, but anyone walking along the path would go right passed them.

They were ducked down there for a few minutes when Gail talked to them again, "It seems to be some kind of armory. There are all kinds of weapons here. Some of them I've never seen before. One of them looks like it shoots arrows, but it's not a bow. I don't quite understand. Either way we need to stay away from this area now and on our way back." Hayden whispered her agreement back.

Gail moved back to their hiding spot, "This spot sucks. Follow me." She found them a better hiding spot farther off the path where she and Hayden planned out a new course. It took them off the path quite a bit, but it also took them clear out of the way of the armory and would eventually loop back to the path. They took a gamble on the direction to go to avoid the village that set up that armory, which was also not on their map. It wasn't a pure gamble, they had a pretty good idea based on the surrounding terrain. As soon as that was done they were off again in the same formation.

Holly and Hayden didn't talk. The warrior had said it was best to be silent just in case. When they finally made it back to the path Holly watched Hayden's shoulders drop a little as she relaxed. "We have to make up time. So we can either walk an extra hour each night, wake up an hour earlier in the mornings, or just go for it and make up all of the time tonight. Which do you prefer?" Hayden asked. "Let's do an extra hour each night." Hayden nodded and passed the message on to Gail.

It was hours later when Gail dropped out of the trees suddenly and, as per usual, silently. "This should be where we make camp. There's plenty of cover and I can get the tent set up somewhere nobody will find it." Hayden nodded and Gail walked off to pitch the tent. It wasn't long before she was back to guide them to the tent.

Hayden quickly made a fire and got to work making some food for them to eat. It wasn't much and it had almost zero taste, but a little bit of it went a long way and it was very filling. Holly got settled in, it was difficult because the princess had never slept in a tent before, and Gail and Hayden played "Rock, paper, scissors" to decide who would take the first watch. Gail won, but she still decided to take the first watch. Something about keeping up their routine. Secretly she wanted the first shift because she didn't want to talk to Holly. If she was awake for four hours Holly would be asleep by the time they had to share the tent.

The watch went quickly and without incident. Gail just sat on the ground in front of the slowly fading fire with her back up against a tree. Before she knew it Hayden was crawling out of the tent as quietly as she could. She removed her boots putting them near the tent opening and she laid down. She was asleep in seconds.

In the morning Gail woke up to the first rays of sunlight shining onto the tent. She yawned moving to stretch when she became aware of the weight on her right shoulder, arm, and chest. She looked down and saw Holly curled up with her head on Gail's chest. Gently Gail lifted Holly's head off of her and the blond wormed her way out from underneath the brunette. She placed Holly's head onto her pillow and moved to the end of the tent where her boots sat. She put them on and stepped out of the tent. Hayden sat leaning against the same tree Gail had been leaning on just three hours earlier, but the fire looked to have gone out long ago. "We should move out soon. I'll wake up Holly you should prepare yourself for the trip. We have another full day of travel and should arrive in the human kingdom, The United Lands, around mid-day the day after tomorrow." Hayden said. Gail nodded and went to retrieve their bags from the tree where she had hidden them.

She got back and Holly was awake and Hayden was disassembling the tent. Gail opened her bag and pulled out some more food. They ate in silence before Hayden and Gail strapped on their packs and they all got into formation. Gail climber the nearest tree and began to walk forward. She was about one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards ahead of the others when she stepped hard onto the branch to signal Hayden that she was in position and they could move out.

It was a quiet day with nothing out of the ordinary happening. No creepy buildings, no random people walking the trail, there wasn't even any suspicious looking rocks on the path. Hayden would never admit it, but she was absolutely bored out of her mind. Holly could only imagine how Gail felt; at least Hayden had someone to walk with and talk to, Gail was all alone.

Holly talked a lot of the trip trying to amuse herself. She would tell stories about when she was little and her dad was just like anyone else, before he was king, and before her mother died. "She used to be my biggest supporter. I used to want to be a warrior just like my dad, and she would smile and tell me that she believed in me, the only thing she said was that it would take a lot of hard work, but she knew I could do it. Then as I got older and decided that I wanted to be a doctor she didn't miss a beat, 'well then you'll have to buckle down and study hard. I know you can do it, but it won't be easy. Just like becoming a warrior it will take a lot of work, actually it will take more work. I know you can do this, and if you still want to do this after you graduate I will see what I can do about getting you an apprenticeship with the Medical Guild.'" Hayden smiled at the princess. "She sounds great, and I'm so sorry that I never got the chance to meet her." Holly smiled at Hayden. "Yeah she was pretty amazing, and I wish she was here to see all that I've done." Hayden put her hand on Holly's shoulder, "She can see all that you have done, and she's watching you right now to see what you will do. She is up there waiting patiently for you to join her, and I promise you she is so proud of you. I mean how could she not be?" Holly reached up to wipe a couple of tears from her eyes.

It was quiet for a while. "I know virtually nothing about you. Would you tell me about your family?" Holly asked of Hayden. The smile that crossed Hayden's face was brighter than the sun. She started talking about her wife and son and she told so many stories. Clearly she was obsessed with her family. She talked for a couple of hours about the adventures that Thalin had gone on in their yard. From climbing trees and getting stuck until Hayden climbed the tree and carrying him down, to getting his first bow for his last birthday and his determination to hit a bullseye before the end of the night on his own.

The conversation flowed easily between the two with only a few moments of silence. When it was time to pitch the tent they followed the same routine as the night before. The only difference was that Gail would be on guard for three hours while Hayden took the four hour shift.

In the morning Hayden and Gail checked their map to make sure that they were still on schedule to arrive just before lunch in the United Lands. Off they went on a relatively more difficult path. It was covered in hills and a very rocky terrain. Holly thought she was in good shape and she believed herself to have very good balance, but Hayden had to catch her more times than she would like to admit. At one point Hayden jokingly offered to carry Holly, and even though she knew it was just a joke Holly almost took her up on it. Before she could embarrass herself further the path took them out of the woods and they came upon a giant gate. They had made it, they were steps away from the United Lands.

 **A/N: Wow that first author's note was long wasn't it? I'm going to try to keep this one brief. Has anyone else seen Almost Adults? I finally got to watch it today and my roommate and I ended up watching it twice back to back. If you've seen it send me a message and let me know what you thought of it. I am hoping to have another chapter completed and uploaded by the end of the month. So reviews are appreciated and suggestions are welcome just leave them in a review or PM me.**

 **Until next time  
** _Hold the Line and Don't Look Back_


	14. Prove Your Worth

**A/N: Hey everyone! I know it's been a while, but I did warn you that my updates would be about once a month. So I don't actually have a lot to say today, so let's get into some reviews and if I think of anything to tell you it'll be at the bottom.**

 **Guest 1: I'm glad you're still enjoying. Please continue to read and review.**

 **Turtle: I'm glad you're enjoying the story line. I apologize that the updates have to be so slow, but I have a lot going on right now. Thank you for your support anyway and I hope you keep reading.**

 **Guest 2: Well then your wait is over. Here is the next chapter.**

 **Now on to the story...**

As they saw the gate in front of them Holly raised her chin and set her shoulders back. As they were getting out of the woods Gail dropped from the trees on Holly's right side. They moved quickly towards the gate.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The guard on the ground said. Gail snickered a little bit. "How cliché can this dude get?" She muttered under her breath causing and Hayden had to bite her lip not to laugh along which caused Holly to have to shush them both. "Princess Holly Stewart of Nimrais and my personal guards." She finally said to the guard. He looked them over and said, "I'm going to have to ask you to surrender any weapons you may have brought with you." Gail and Hayden both chuckled. "If you want them you'll have to take them and I promise you, I will make that extremely difficult for you." Gail said dropping one leg back into a defensive position. Hayden followed suit. They each reached out a hand to Holly ready to pull Holly out of the way if the guard chose to attack. He didn't get the chance.

"Princess!" A man yelled from the gate that had just opened. "Arthur!" Holly yelled back. She stepped forward and they exchanged kisses on the cheek. "I meant to be here when you arrived, but I got held up. Do you forgive me?" Holly smiled. "Of course Arthur." The man took in the aggressive positions of the three guards. "What is going on?" He asked. "Your majesty, they refuse to surrender their weapons." He chuckled, "Of course they do! They've just walked for days through dangerous forests and elves are particularly attached to their weapons." He turned to Gail and Hayden before continuing, "Am I correct when I say you craft most of your own weapons?" Hayden answered because Gail wouldn't look away from the other guard. "We are taught to build them ourselves and our first weapons are crafted at our own hands, but after that we have men and women who craft our weapons to our exact specifications. "Fascinating, Jeremy allow them to pass with their weapons." They began to walk, but Gail kept eye contact with Jeremy as long as possible.

"Princess Holly, it is so good to see you again. Welcom to the United Lands. Allow me to show you to your rooms to prepare for lunch. My wife sends her apologies but she will be unable to join us for lunch." Arthur said as he led the way to the castle. "Rooms? Plural sir?" Hayden asked. "Yes I have a room set up for the princess and one for the two of you." The two warriors shook their heads. "We mean no disrespect your highness, but this is a new land to us, and we will be rooming with the princess." Hayden said. Arthur nodded. "Yes of course. I hadn't thought of that. I apologize, the room set up for Princess Holly should be plenty big enough for all three of you."

They were led to a room and left alone after being informed that lunch would be served in an hour. Gail and Hayden put their bags down and began to search the room while Holly stood in the doorway. Once it was clear they allowed Holly in and gave her her bag. "We will leave you to change if you need anything we will be right through here." Gail said leading Hayden through to a small sitting room. There they changed out of their hiking clothes and into their dress uniforms. Slowly and with purpose they strapped on their weapons and gear.

Once that was done they sat talking about strategy and how best to protect Holly from where they were, especially if they were supposed to put on a show for King Arthur at some point. After a while of planning they were confident in their strategy. A knock came from the door between them and the room Holly was in. They stood and rushed to the door throwing it open Gail, who was in front, froze causing Hayden to nearly run her over. Holly stood in a beautiful red dress. It was simple yet sophisticated. Gail felt like she couldn't breath as she stared at the beautiful woman in front of her. "Shall we go?" Holly asked. Hayden agreed and elbowed Gail in the ribs to get her to straighten up and start moving.

Holly walked a step in front of her warriors. They arrived in the garden where a table had been set up in front of a large span of grass. "Ah Princess, I see you found the garden with no problem. Please come join me." Arthur said standing from his seat. As she got to the table he pulled out her chair for her. Hayden followed and stood behind Holly while Gail stood near the door they had just walked through.

"Princess I hate to bring this up, but I was promised a demonstration of the abilities of your warriors. If it is not too much to ask I would like to see that now." Arthur said looking like a kid on Christmas. "What about your wife? Would she not want to see this as well?" Arthur chuckled. "She is not interested in your military power. You sold her months ago when you discussed your politics and medical remedies." Holly nodded at him. She didn't like the idea of forcing Gail and Hayden to prove themselves, but she had promised so she agreed anyway.

Gail stepped forward from the door to the area of grass in front of the table. She put her fist over her heart and bowed. "King Arthur this is Abigail Peck. Specialist In hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and archery." Holly announced. Gail straightened up at the end of her introduction. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard a step behind her. She closed her eyes to focus on the sounds around her. Her eyes snapped open and she ducked as a man over a foot taller than her threw a punch from behind her. As she ducked he lost his balance causing him to flail, but he managed to stay on his feet. Gail came u from her crouch in a fighting position. Gail stood patiently waiting for him to make the first move. Slowly she was stepping sideways so he would mimic her moves until she was between him and Holly. Finally he stepped forward and tried to kick out, but she caught his leg and pinned it to her side. With his left leg in her control she reached out with her left leg and arm. She swept his standing leg and pushed the middle of his chest so that he fell to the ground. She was on top of him in a second delivering a flurry of punches that knocked the man unconscious. As she stood up she pulled her bow off her back, and as she turned towards the table she notched an arrow and pulled back. When she was fully facing the table there stood another man with a knife at the throat of the king. Holly held her hand out to stop Hayden from attempting to interfere. "Princess I mean no disrespect that was an impressive display, but to call her a specialist when she could only take on one man seems an overstretch." Arthur said. "Sir if this had been anything but a demonstration I would not have hesitated to fire this arrow and that man would no longer be a threat. This would free my focus to deal with the woman in the tree about the princess." Gail, who had yet to relax her bow string, said. "Prove it, we will get you a training arrow, it is the same weight as a real arrow, but it has a rubber tip. If you would go back to your previous position above Alexander." Arthur spoke as a young woman brought out the arrow.

Gail put the arrow into her quiver and but her bow back on her shoulder. She mimed a fake punch before standing up and turning as she had before while setting up her bow and the fake arrow. This time as she was fully turned around she released the arrow. Before the arrow reached its mark she had dropped her bow and was running straight at the table. When the woman who had been in the tree dropped out Gail launched herself at the woman. They collided midair above the royal's table. They landed behind the table and Gail rolled to her feet pulling her dual swords and crossing them in front of the woman's neck.

King Brian moved to his feet and began to clap. "I stand corrected Princess. This warrior is indeed everything I was promised she would be." Gail put her swords away offering a hand to the woman on the ground. She moved to the man kneeling on the ground rubbing his eye. She helped him up and they clasped forearms. Finally she moved in front of the king and Holly and bowed once again. Alexander was being carried away to the infirmary by a couple of the king's guards.

Gail walked over and switched spots with Hayden. "Now would be a great time to bring out the food." King Arthur said. Two plates were brought out with a small salad, chicken breast, and a pile of mashed potatoes. One plate was set in front of Holly and the other in front of Arthur. Holly's plate looked normal, but that did not mean it was. Holly must have sensed her guards' discomfort, "I will be ok. King Arthur stands to gain nothing from my death." She said to the warriors. "Yes I heard about what happened. Would it put your minds at ease if I were to switch plates with the princess?" Hayden and Gail shared a look before nodding. The switch was made and the two started into their lunch.

As they ate Holly introduced Hayden. "This is Hayden Ando. She is a specialist in tracking, close quarters weaponry, and hand-to-hand combat." As she spoke a rack of weapons was brought out to Hayden. She picked up a bow staff and began to twirl it around her. She had always been better at close combat, but the reason she was not very good with swords was because she was afraid of injuring herself. As a substitute she had learned a lot about the bow staff. No blade meant she wasn't as afraid of it. As she was twirling the staff Arthur could not take his eyes off of her his meal all but forgotten. After she put the staff down she picked up two sai swords and began to twirl those around in her hands. That was when she heard a noise to her right. She spun her whole body in a 360 degree circle which allowed her to glimpse at her right without letting on to the person trying to sneak up on her. It worked, she saw a person in all black. Her right arm flew out and she let go of the sword in her hand. It was quickly followed by her left arm as that sword flew through the air as well. She turned to see the person pinned to the tree by the shoulders of their shirt. She ran over pulling out the swords and putting them into her belt as she grabbed the woman by the back of the neck of her shirt. She pulled her back to the lawn and forced her to her knees. Arthur stood once again clapping enthusiastically. "That was absolutely incredible." He cheered.

Hayden went to stand beside Gail who went back to her spot by the door. "How come you didn't have to fight anyone? That's bullshit." The blond muttered as she walked passed Hayden who smirked. "Holly I am truly impressed by what I have seen. If the rest of your army is half as skilled as these two you are a valuable ally for the United Lands. I would be honored to discuss the terms of an alliance between our worlds. We shall have this discussion tonight over dinner when my wife can join us.

The three elves went back to their room. "I'd like to take a quick shower" Hayden said. Did she need a shower? Yes. Was that the sole reason that she was going into the bathroom? No. She had told Holly that she would help her get Gail to open up about her feelings and that would only happen if the two were alone together.

Holly and Gail sat in awkward silence for a minute before Holly spoke, "I'm sorry that you keep having to prove yourself to people." Gail turned to focus on her. "It's part of my job, I understand the concerns of these people so I can deal with the demonstrations." Holly shook her head. "Do you think I don't hear you complaining about being tested? You can't stand it. What I can't figure out is why you still do it." Gail tried to shrug it off and say, "it's a job." Holly stood up. "That's crap Gail and you know it. You could qualify for any of the jobs available yet you keep this one. Why?" Holly knew she was pushing, but she needed to know. Gail shot to her feet so she was at the same level as Holly. She would never be able to tell why she said what she said next. Maybe it was stress, or the fact that she hadn't slept well in a long time, or annoyance with the demonstrations, maybe she was just so tired of denying it, and maybe it was a combination of all of that. Whatever it was she found herself yelling, "Because I love you!" Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, but it was too late. She dropped her head to look at the floor and her hands moved to grab at the hair on the back of her head. "I love you, and you being you and me being me this is the only way for me to be allowed in your presence. You wouldn't even know who I am if it wasn't for this job. I would put up with any test or demonstration for just the few minutes I get alone with you. I've tried to fight it, taking the late shifts, pushing you away, guarding you from the trees where there's no chance for conversation, all of it. But I just can't fight it anymore, and I understand if you want me off this detail when we get back."

Holly had stayed quiet through Gail's whole confession, but the resignation in her voice at the end prompted her to act. She stepped forward and reached for Gail's hands. She untangled the other woman's fingers from her blond hair, and then lowered Gail's arms to her sides. Then she reached forward and put her hand under Gail's chin. Gently she forced Gail's head up until brown eyes met ice blue. Finally she leant forward and connected their lips. Unlike their first kiss before the ball Gail did not push Holly away when her hands began to wander a little. In fact Gail put her hands on Holly's hips and pulled the brunette closer.

They were forced back to reality by the clearing of a throat. They turned and saw Hayden in her uniform with wet hair smirking at them. "It's about time." She said as she walked by them to the other room.

Gail turned back to Holly, "I want to continue this Holly, I just need you to wait a little bit longer. Once this assignment is over and you're safe again I can get new orders. An order where we don't have to worry about this being unethical or unsafe for you." Holly nodded smiling at her. "I can wait Gail, I promise you're worth it." Gail smiled too and leaned forward to give Holly a light peck on the lips. "OK I should get a shower and prepare for dinner." With one more kiss she walked away.

Once she was gone Hayden came back into the room. "I'm glad that worked I really thought it would take more than that. I guess a small push from a beautiful woman was all she needed." The short haired brunette said amusement clear in her voice. "I think she's tired of being afraid to let people in, you've probably seen it with the way she acts around your family especially your son. She's tired of denying her feelings and being alone. I think I'm the first person to actually push her to admit how she feels instead of just letting it go, and that makes her feel like she's worth it for probably the first time in her life." Holly said looking at the bathroom door. They sat down engaging in a conversation about possibly continuing Holly's defensive martial arts lessons.

When Gail was done in the shower it was Holly's turn. Hayden walked over to the blond and pinched her cheek. "You're growing up!" Gail slapped her hand away. "Shut up, I don't want to hear it from you when I have to listen to you go on and on about your wife." Gail snapped embarrassed. Hayden caught her eyes, "Gail, I really am happy for you. Now that this alliance is pretty solidified this assignment will be over before you know it. You're going to finally get your happily ever after." Gail chuckled at her friend. "That was so cliché and cheesy you dork. You're still going to help me find my mother after this right?" She asked. "Of course my friend." Gail gave her a small smile. "Thank you, I can't describe it, but I feel like I'm so close to her right now." Hayden put a hand on Gail's shoulder "we will find her."

Gail had no idea just how close to meeting her mother she was.

 **A/N: Hey y'all! so since I don't have much to say I'll keep this brief. I'm working on the next chapter, but it still might be a little while. I'm procrastinating an assignment to type up this chapter. Anyway please read and review! If you have any ideas for the story feel free to leave it in a review or send me a message.**

 **Until next time,** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	15. Coming to an Agreement

**A/N: So I know I missed the update for April and it's pretty far into May. I'm very sorry for that, but a lot has happened since then. I had finals, finalized my summer employment, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. I've been extremely busy and stressed so I really am sorry about missing the update. I think that's all I have to say. So let me answer some reviews then we can get on with the story:**

 **Guest: I'm glad you are so excited for my story. Thank you very much for waiting so patiently. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.**

 **Now onto the story...**

Once Holly got out of the shower she got dressed in an elegant white dress. She wouldn't admit it but she had purposely dressed like her guards to show unity with them. "Could we go for walk through the gardens before we meet with the king and queen for dinner?" Gail and Hayden agreed. They would have agreed anyway, but they actually weren't allowed to say no to Holly, whatever she says goes. Within reason of course.

They walked back to where they had lunch and Holly picked a direction. When they got to the path Gail disappeared to be the "eyes in the sky." Holly and Hayden walked in silence the only sound being Holly's footsteps on the path. They were just enjoying nature. Holly hadn't done anything like this since she was little and her mother had been able to take her. That was all she could think about in that moment: her mother's smile, the brightness that just followed the woman everywhere, and especially the compassion she showed to everyone. Holly hoped to one day be half the queen, mother, and overall good person that her mother was. Holly was making sure to take her time and just enjoy every moment that she got to feel close to her mother again. She promised herself that when she got home she would do this more often. It was cathartic.

As they walked Hayden held out a hand to stop Holly as the wind carried Gail's voice saying "there's someone up ahead crouched in the rose bushes." Before the sentence was out of hearing range Gail was at Holly's side. The two warriors walked with Holly just a step behind them. As they approached the rose bushes Holly watched their entire bodies tense up. They were passing as a woman stepped out. She saw the three and jumped, "Oh my god! I'm very sorry, I didn't know anyone would be out here. I'm Lorelei, the head landscaper." She held out a hand which Gail stepped forward and shook. The woman had blond hair with strands of reddish-brown pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck. She was on the taller side maybe 5'8" or so and she had dark blue eyes. "I was just planting some new rose bushes, they're the king and queen's favorites. I am sorry to have gotten in your way. Please continue on." Holly smiled at the woman and smile to her as they continued to walk.

Gail dropped back behind the other two to keep an eye on this woman just in case. Something about her had Gail feeling something, but she couldn't place why or what she was feeling. They passed by a little alcove with a fountain and a bench. Holly sat on the bench and asked for a second so her guard walked to stand by the fountain. They were far enough that they wouldn't be able to hear her, but they would be close enough to act in case something happened.

From her spot on the bench Holly turned and picked a flower from the bush behind her. She brought it to her nose and smelled it. She let the smell calm her before she looked up slightly and began to talk quietly, "hey Mom. I know it's been a while since we talked and that's my fault. I've just been so busy with trying to take care of Dad and all of the people who look up to me. I know I should've made time for you, but I guess I was just scared and maybe a little angry. I know it wasn't your fault that you left, but I couldn't help but blame you for the longest time because you weren't here. That's gonna change though, I'm going to make sure that we get to talk at least once a week." Holly looked back to the flower in her hand and chuckled slightly. "I met someone and she's amazing. She's my bodyguard, but I can't help but fall for her. She can be pretty confrontational, but that's one of the best things about her. She's protected me for weeks now and she almost died for me. She has this wall around herself, but I've managed to get through it. She's snarky and sarcastic, but she makes me feel better when I'm scared and she's so sweet and she's the most loyal person I've ever met. She would do anything for the people she cares about. I think you would've liked her too Mom. I wish you two had gotten the chance to meet." She looked over and her eyes met Gail's. The blond gave her a small half smile that was so adorable. At that moment the sun peaked around a cloud and illuminated their little area. The warmth that spread through Holly let her know that her mother was listening and she did approve of Gail. Holly's smile got bigger at that. "I love you Mom. I have to go to dinner now, but we'll talk soon I promise." She stood up with the flower in her hand and walked over to Hayden and Gail. "I'm ready to go now." She told them and they nodded. Holly left the flower on the edge of the fountain so that the sun lit it up and increased its beauty.

They continued along the path until they arrived back at the palace. They walked in and made their way to the dining hall. It would only be the five of them in there plus a couple of King Arthur's guards, but Arthur had insisted that they eat there. As they arrived at the door to the hall it was just before six o'clock. Hayden and Gail quickly straightened out their uniforms making sure that everything was still precisely where it was supposed to be.

Holly walked in first followed by her guards who automatically took up post on either side of the door. Arthur and his wife were already seated at the end of the table. There was a single soldier standing off in the corner. Arthur stood when Holly walked in and he walked around the table to pull out her chair for her as she sat down. "Princess Holly, I would like to introduce you to my wife Loraine." Holly turned to the woman and was shocked to see the woman from the gardens earlier. "I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude, but were you not just out in the gardens?" Loraine chuckled lowly. "I see you met my twin sister Lorelei. Her passion has always been botany so when I met Arthur and we married I told her she had free reign over the gardens. She and I have always been close, and creating the beauty that is those gardens helped her a lot when the man she loved left her." Holly nodded to the woman in front of her.

Dinner was brought out and they began to eat talking about little things. Loraine told them that she wanted a nice dinner before they discussed any sort of politics. They were just finishing their main course when the doors were thrown open. In their shock Hayden and Gail let their instincts control them. They each grabbed an arm of the person coming in and pinned it to his back forcing him to his knees. Once everything had calmed down they realized it was the snooty guard from the gate that wanted them to leave all of their weapons. Arthur was laughing amused once again by the skills that these warriors possessed. "What is it that you need Jeremy?" Arthur asked. The two women let him go and he stood straightening his uniform. He threw a glare at the two before turning back to the king. "Sir, we have just received news that the citizen army that was protesting in the west has disappeared. We suspect they have moved and made camp in the north, but we have no reports to confirm that." Arthur nodded to him. "How long ago did this happen?" He asked. "About three days ago, but the message just reached us here." Arthur nodded again. "Thank you Jeremy, you are dismissed." The man bowed slightly before turning and leaving,

"You see Princess this is why we requested to see what your soldiers can do. Some of the people are not particularly happy with my leadership in this past year. They have created what we're calling a citizen army and they have been protesting in cities across the kingdom. They have been fairly peaceful for the most part, but there have been multiple occurrences of violence and one of them resulted in the death of one of my men. I need your warrior's help to track down and disband this group." Holly was shocked. She had no idea that they were dealing with this kind of mess here. "We of course also would like some of your medical expertise." Holly said. "You have more advanced medical technology. We rely mostly on natural remedies and they are not always enough. Some of your medics would have to travel and share that technology, medicine, and teach us how to use them." Loraine nodded. "Of course we are willing to share that with you. We also request a healthy trade between our nations. You're cities are situated in an area that allows you to mine and your craftsman create beautiful weapons. If you would be willing to allow us to commission weapons and other goods from them we would like to offer our crops in exchange. Our soil allows for the growth of more crops than we can use ourselves." Holly thought about it for a moment. "How about we agree to a trade agreement. We will do most of our trade with each other, but we will not exclusively trade with you. There is much that we can gain from other cultures." Loraine smiled. "That is an agreeable term. Thank you for this Princess Holly." Holly nodded. "There is one more thing. As of right now the South woods are 'neutral' however that neutrality has allowed many of your people to move in there. My people are afraid to use those woods now. We are losing a good hunting destination and we are running low on meat. I would like that land claimed back to the kingdom of Nimrais." She said to Loraine. It seemed Arthur's only concern was the army so he would be no help in other areas of compromise. "What if we make that area off limits to live in. It will be a neutral hunting ground, but nobody from either kingdom shall be allowed to live there permanently without special permission from both kingdoms?" Holly smiled and nodded. "Then I believe that we have a deal. Tomorrow morning we can put these terms into a mutually beneficial contract that you will both sign and my guards and I will take back to my father to review and sign."

Arthur smiled and held his arms out wide. "This calls for a toast!" He shouted merrily. "To bringing our kingdoms and cultures together peacefully!" They touched glasses and took a drink. They stayed there talking and drinking for more than an hour. When Gail checked the time she saw that it was ten o'clock. "Princess, I apologize for interrupting, but we should leave early tomorrow morning to get as much traveling done as possible. I believe you should retire for the night." Holly nodded. "She is correct, thank you for dinner. We will see you at first light tomorrow to sign this agreement."

As they were leaving they were stopped by the chef who handed a plate each to Gail and Hayden. They were confused by that expecting to just each some of the rations they had packed. "I remembered that you hadn't eaten lunch and you had to stand guard through dinner, so I asked the chef to make plates for you to eat." Holly told them. They smiled and thanked her.

As soon as they were back in the room Holly changed into her pajamas and sat on the edge of the bed. Gail walked into the room. She put her hands on Holly's cheeks cupping her face and brought their lips together lightly. "Thank you for thinking of us and getting us food." The blond smiled. "Get some sleep you had a lot to drink and have to be up early. Hayden and I will be in the other room, call out if you need anything. Goodnight." With that Gail stood up and walked to the door. She stood in the doorway looking at the beautiful brunette until Holly had laid down and closed her eyes. Then Gail turned off the light and left the room.

 **A/N 2: So what do you think? Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Hopefully the next update will be coming soon. I have the second half of it planned out, but I have to figure out how I want to get there. As always thank you for reading and if you have any ideas for the story do not hesitate to leave them in a review or a PM.**

 **Until next time** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


	16. Heading Home

**A/N: Hey everyone, so I'm back. I know it's been a long time and I promised I'd update more often this summer. Unfortunately my job this summer has been more demanding than I thought it would be so I haven't had a lot of time to write. This chapter may seem kind of rushed, because I am in the middle of a 12 hour shift. Leave a review and let me know if I should never write while at work again.**

 **Guest: Thanks for reading. Good guess, you'll have to wait to find out for a few more chapters. Thanks for the well wishes I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

The next morning Gail and Hayden were up early. "Are you up for a short run?" Hayden asked. Gail was a little unsure, but she decided that it wouldn't be too much of a problem with the King's guards everywhere. It didn't end up mattering, because as they were getting ready Holly woke up and asked to join them.

As they were running through the gardens they passed by Lorelei who was tending to the rose bushes. They smiled as they passed and she looked up to smile and wave back. It was a quiet run but as they went by the fountain Holly thought about her mother again. She said a silent prayer and a thank you to her for her continued influence. The run was good for all of them, because it allowed them to clear their minds and prepare for the trip back. Gail and Hayden were separately plotting their trip back. While Holly was in the meeting signing the official agreement they would take a map and put their ideas together to come up with the safest and most efficient trip home.

After a twenty minute run they went back to the room to clean up and get ready for the meeting. Holly was the only one who would be required to be in formal dress, because Gail and Hayden were not attending the meeting. They dressed in their travelling clothes, a tight green t-shirt, brown tight three-quarter length pants, brown boots, and for Gail a hat to cover her platinum blond hair. Meanwhile Holly put on a blue dress that was fancy, but not over the top. At the top of her travel bag she left a set of clothes similar to what Gail and Hayden were wearing.

Hayden and Gail walked Holly to the meeting hall where she would sign the papers. When she was inside the room they stood at the table that they requested be set up right outside the door. First Gail marked the route she suggested they take with a dotted line. It would take them back almost the exact same way they had come in. As soon as she was done Hayden took the pencil from her and shook her head. "Gail the point of this agreement is to protect all of the people, we don't need to avoid any specific areas. We'll just be careful and quick when we go through them. It'll save us almost a full day to go straight from here to Nimrais." Gail shook her head. "We need to be careful on the way back, because the treaty doesn't take effect until after the King has signed it. Anyone who wants to stop this from happening will take this trip as their opportunity to stop us." Now it was Hayden's turn to shake her head, "Nobody knows that King Brian has to sign the treaty for it to take effect. Holly signed the last one, so people will just assume this one is the same. We'll be careful." Hayden said as she erased Gail's lines and marked her own. Gail knew there was no use in trying to convince her, Hayden wasn't trained from birth to expect trouble like she was. She would just make sure to remain ever vigilant.

When Holly came out she was sent to quickly change and they set out. As they passed through the gate Gail disappeared. They passed through and Gail dropped silently down behind Jeremy who was once again guarding the gate. She dropped down and swept his feet from under him causing him to flail and fall to the ground. She cackled as Hayden laughed quietly, "You should pay more attention to your surroundings there Jer." She said as she walked away. He grabbed a rock off the ground and threw it at her back. She turned at the last second and caught it, "nice try, but you'll have to do better than that." She dropped the rock, turned and walked away.

Hayden shook her head at the blonde's actions, but couldn't completely contain her chuckles. They walked until they reached the edge of the forest before turning and waving to the King and Queen who had come out to see them off. Then they turned back to the forest and continued to walk. Gail got into a tree and began to run in front of the other two. She kept a sharp eye on them and what was in front and all around them. She was so focused on everything else that she almost missed one of the branches and fell, but she managed to keep her balance and right herself without making too much noise.

The first day was as uneventful as their trip out had been. The second day was just as bad, but Holly was talking on and off to Hayden about her mother, and all of the things she wanted to do to remember her mother. It took up a lot of the time, and the rest of it Hayden was telling stories about Thalin and Elinath. The final day was when things began to go sideways.

They were walking just a few hours away from home when everything went wrong. The path Hayden had plotted took them right passed their mystery village from their original trip. They speed up to get through the area faster, but it didn't matter. Gail who was about 100 yards ahead spotted the group of humans first. It took her a couple of extra seconds to see the weapons. "Pull of the trail and find a hiding spot behind us" Gail ordered through the wind. Hayden immediately did as she was told, and Gail spent an extra minute watching what she assumed was the citizen army. They were just sitting around talking, but each of them had weapons next to them.

Gail turned away and went in search of Holly and Hayden. She found them quickly and ducked into their hiding spot. "It looks like it's the citizen army that Arthur was warned about. For the record this is why we should've avoided this village at all costs." Hayden dropped her head. "Why don't we just go around now? They didn't see us." Gail nodded her head agreeing to that plan. They would have to be super careful, but with Hayden helping her she had no doubt they could do it. That was until someone went running passed their hiding spot towards the group yelling, "Guys, I just heard from the Northern patrols that the princess passed them about half an hour ago and she was headed this way on the path with a few guards!" The group all cheered and picked up their weapons. "This is it boys! Get ready and don't let anyone through here." Then they all lined up along the path making a blockade.

"New plan, we're not gonna be able to get through this. I'm going to go distract them. I'll get them to chase me back North, when I pass by here Hayden make sure nobody stayed behind then get Holly back to the palace. I'll duck away from them and get back as soon as I can." Hayden straightened her posture, "No Gail, this is my fault. I was the one who decided we should come this way, I'll be the distraction." Gail shook her head, "No you won't. You're the best navigator in Nimrais, so even if you have to deviate from this path you'll be able to get home fast. Plus you have Elinath and Thalin waiting for you to get home. I'll be right behind you." Gail said. Then she looked at Hayden and held out her arm for Hayden to grasp her forearm. "namaarie nilde" She whispered. (Farewell friend) Then she turned to Holly and cupped the other woman's face in her hands pulling their lips together passionately. When she pulled away she whispered, "I'm sorry." Then she ran off to circle around to come back down the path without giving away the hiding spot.

She walked down the path acting like she was trying to look out and be careful. "Who the hell are you?" She asked when she came to the blockade. "We are an army of citizens of the United Lands and we do not approve of the agreement with you elves. Are you with the princess?" Gail gave him a fake skeptical look. "I am one of her personal guards. What do you want with the princess?" The man chuckled, "We want to get rid of the agreement. Get her, she can lead us to the princess." Almost all of the men stepped forward to surround Gail, but the blond was not having that. She jumped up flipping over the man behind her and pulling her sword killing the man as she landed. She sheathed her sword and as the leader shouted "Get her, no matter what it takes, bring her back here to me." She took off running and a quick look over her shoulder showed her that everyone, including their leader, was following her. As she passed Holly and Hayden's hiding spot she whispered "it's all clear, wait a minute, check, then get out of here."

Hayden did as she was told. She and Holly took off running as fast as they could manage back towards Nimrais. The journey that should have taken another two hours on foot took them three-quarters of an hour running.

They went directly to the palace and burst into the throne room. King Brian stood, but when he saw Holly he smiled. That smile faded when he saw that she was red and out of breath from running. Then she began to try to give them instructions, "We have to go back out there. Gail… she's… out there. We have to… organize a rescue party and go save her!" She spoke through her heavy breathing. "Woah, Holly slow down. Take some deep breaths and then try that again." He said. Finally Holly managed to get her breathing under control, "Our path was blocked by this citizen army of humans who wanted to stop the agreement. Gail volunteered to distract them so Hayden and I could get away. We have to organize a search and go find her!" Brian's face hardened. He turned to his assistant, "Do as she says. We leave no man behind, organize every soldier we can spare and go find her!" The woman ran off to do as she was told.

Meanwhile, Gail was running through the forest. She knew that Hayden and Holly would be far enough away by now that she could disappear and go home without being followed. The problem was every time she turned there seemed to be another human blocking her path. She had just turned off the path again when she felt a pain like she'd never felt before in her ankle causing her to crumple to the ground while screaming out. She looked down to see a metal clamp with sharp teeth digging into her ankle. The men caught up to her and chuckled at her misfortune. "Aw did the poor elf get stuck in our trap? That's unfortunate." The leader said and Gail glared at him. "Well tell us where the princess is and we can let you go." He said. The glare stayed in place as she rolled her eyes. "You don't want to cooperate? That's fine with me." And he stepped forward and kicked her in the stomach. The guys all lined up and kicked and punched her. That was the last thing she remembered.

She woke up sitting on the floor with her hands chained above her head. There was a woman kneeling in front of her. "Are you alright? You've been out for quite a while." The woman said as she brought a cloth up to wipe at Gail's face. Gail flinched when the cloth touched her skin. That caused her head to explode with pain. "Be careful, you're pretty beat up." Gail really focused on the woman helping her. She had long blond hair all the way down her back, even in the braid it was pulled up in. "My name is Elizabeth, I just want to help you. I've been their prisoner for a long time." Gail relaxed a little bit knowing she wouldn't be able to fight even if she wanted to.

The woman helped her clean up and dressed as many of her wounds as possible with the few supplies they had. It wasn't long after that when the leader of the army came in. "Are you ready to talk to me now?" Gail glared at him. "What good will it do? Holly is home by now, she's probably already sent guards out to raid your little village. No matter what you do to me it's over, especially because King Brian has definitely already signed the agreement. It's over for you." She said glaring. He smirked at her and punched her, "well then I guess it doesn't matter what I do to you." Then the world went black.

Back in Nimrais

The search party looked for hours before returning empty handed. They went out the next day and the day after before reluctantly Brian had to call off the search because they could not afford to keep sending out all of their soldiers.

Holly had been spending a lot of time with Hayden and her family. The day that they called off the search for Gail officially Holly knocked on Hayden's door and the short haired brunette answered, her hair was crazy and she had tear streaks on her face. "Hayden what's going on?" Holly asked worriedly. "They called off the search for Gail, and even worse your dad wants to give me a medal of bravery. That's not my medal! I can't accept that! I don't deserve it! How can I look my son in the eyes and try to be a good role model for him if I accept an award I don't deserve. I left my partner behind!" Hayden said slowly getting more and more frantic. Holly put a hand on Hayden's arm and led her inside and onto the couch. "Listen to me Hayden." Holly said gently. Hayden looked up from where her head was in her hands. "Gail ordered you to leave, she didn't give you a choice she made you do it. This medal is for following orders even though you didn't want to, it's for getting me home safely and for searching for Gail for days straight. Do you know the most important reason that you're getting this award?" Hayden shook her head. "This award is Gail's award, but Gail can't accept it. You need to accept it for her. As for being a role model for your son, accept that award and then deserve it. Teach him about Gail and tell him this story, especially if she never gets the chance to-" Holly's voice cracked when she said that, but she pulled herself together because Hayden needed her. "Teach him what it means to be brave and to deserve this bravery award." Hayden nodded and hugged Holly. They both began to cry. That's how Elinath and Thalin found them an hour later.

The ceremony was scheduled for the next day. It seems kind of rushed, but the whole ordeal was so public, and King Brian wanted the public to see that they were not shaken by this. They were all set up and Elinath and Thalin were sitting in the front row. Hayden was in her dress uniform trying to get over the guilty feeling in her gut telling her she didn't deserve this. "For her impressive work in bringing my daughter home safely I award Royal Guard Hayden this medal. In the face of the enemy she stood up and risked her safety to get our princess home." Hayden had to stop herself from shaking her head and saying she didn't deserve this.

There was a rustling in the bushes and everyone turned to look at him. Hayden stepped forward to be between the rustling and the king. As soon as she saw who was in the forest she ran forward and jumped off the stage. She didn't break stride as she ran passed the crowd to the bushes. She ran straight to the area where the noise was coming from and she reached down to help a broken and bleeding Gail to her feet. "Thank you" she whispered before going limp in Hayden's arms.

 **A/N 2: So there it is. Leave a review and let me know if you think I should never update from work again. Also I have set up a poll on my page where you can go vote for who you think should or is Gail's mother. I'm hoping to get another chapter up soon, but I have a few overtime shifts coming up and I can't promise that it will be as soon as I want it to be.**

 **Until next time  
** Hold the Line and Don't Look Back


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